VisitFlanders

Placement organization

Name of organization: VisitFlanders
Town/city: Cologne
Country: Duitsland
Website: http://www.visitflanders.com/de/?country=de_DE

Student

Name of student: Nadia Visser

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tourism Board
Organization’s activities: To present the northern region of Belgium, Flanders, to the German market. The foreign office of VisitFlanders in Cologne is responsible for the Trade and Press acitivities concerning the German market.
Target group of the organization: Germans
Company culture: There is very little hierarchy in the company, allowing for a very relaxed informal atmosphere.
Number of employees: 6
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I’m working in the press department.
Brief description of your daily activities: – Answering press requests: when German journalists want to make a press trip to Flanders, they contact us. In order to provide them and the destination with the right content, good mediation is important.
– Organising press trips: this can be making suggestions for the program or calling journlists to dicuss there wishes, but also booking tickets.
– Editing press specials.
– Updating Social Media.
Brief description of your company assignment: Coming up with a content plan
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Because of the size of the company, supervision was very personal. My supervisor kept in mind my strengths and weaknesses when assigning me jobs.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? Twitter, Facebook
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German: Advanced
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Train

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via Facebook
How did you go to work every day? Bus + metro

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes, the level of German required is really high. Mine was just sufficient.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 80
Accommodation (monthly): € 700
Local transport (monthly): € 70
General costs of living (monthly): € 120
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
It is not very different from my own culture, so I did not prepare a lot.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: nadiaxvisser@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Finding a home is incredibly difficult, start in time!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Kölner Dom
Braunfeld
Landschaftspark Duisburg
Düsseldorf

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link