Alegria Tours

Placement organization

Name of organization: Alegria Tours
Town/city: Girona
Country: Spanje
Website:

Name of student: Deborah van de Roer

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2011-2012

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: Creating holiday packages for the Filipino target group. Arrange everything from A till Z.

Target group of the organization: Philippines
Company culture: In this company you only work with the managers Marc and Fiona. Both are from the Netherlands – which makes the communication much easier. It is very informal (you can wear your own clothes).
Number of employees: 3
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Operations department
Brief description of your daily activities: Designing flexible – custom made tour packages to meet the needs of our clients.
Development of domestic and international packages by visiting destinations research and suggesting interesting travel routes.
Liasing with hotels, coach companies, restaurants, guides and other suppliers.
When students is on tour, welcoming groups of holidaymakers at their starting point and announcing details of travel arrangements.
Ensuring that the tour is running smoothly for individual member of the group.
Organizing entry to attractions – transport – restaurants – check in/out hotels etc.
Brief description of your company assignment: I am working on a social media plan to find out how to reach other people then Philippine business market.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: From the first moment you have to do everything alone. This works great for me because I cannot learn things if I do everything together with someone else. I have developed myself from the first moment I came into the office.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, flexible, stress-proof, attention to detail, planning and organizing
Additional company requirements for this placement? Ms Office
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French:
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Company
How did you go to work every day? Bicycle

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: NHTV
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 3 weeks (erasmus scholar ship)
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes, if you are not good in English- it is better to take a language course

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 100
Accommodation (monthly): € 330 (company pays 200 every month)
Local transport (monthly): € 0
General costs of living (monthly): € ±300-350
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? The company pays 200 euros monthy for the appartement. Because my appartment costs 330 euros, I had to pay 130 euros monthly by myself. That is all the company have paid of me.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Nothing – they are from the same culture as I am.
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: deborah.roer@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don´t make assumptions in this work. Double check everything!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Girona is a nice city with a lot of students. So there is enough to do.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link