Visit Flanders

Placement organization

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

Student

Name of student: Romy de Reuver

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: NTO
Organization’s activities: Organising press and trade trips to Flanders, Belgium. Besides that assisting trips, being presents at fair for promotion, assisting customers applications, making programs.
Target group of the organization: People who are looking for something beyond the tourists attractions
Company culture: The company has 6 permanent employees. During my time we were with 8 in total (the team, me and another intern). The team is super friendly, always willing to help you out and to answer your questions. Although everyone has its own project, they do still work together. There is no real hierarchy since everyone treats each other in the same way which creates a welcoming 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?

Press and trade industry.

Brief description of your daily activities: Creating programs, creating overviews of information for our customers, assisting customer requests, posting on the Facebook and webpage, translations, working at the ITB fair, all the preparations for events.
Brief description of your company assignment: To investigate how the new email program could help the company to reach more engagement customers
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervison by the company was well-arranged. At the first day of my internship we had a meeting about my hopes and expectations. I could always ask or say something when I had doubts or comments on something. However, this was not really necessary since everything was clearly explained.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, stress-proof
Additional company requirements for this placement? 1996
English: Basic
Spanish:
French: Basic
German: Intermediate
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Train/Car

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via a friend
How did you go to work every day? Bike

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? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? In case you are not sure about your German it might be helpful to follow a basic German course.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 40
Accommodation (monthly): € 320
Local transport (monthly): € 0
General costs of living (monthly): € 150
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? I got a financial compensation of €300 monthly.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Germany is not that different from the Netherlands and since I worked together with a lot of German students at NHTV i already had some insight into their working style and expectations.
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: romydereuver@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Ask questions whenever you do not understand the assignment or something else that is asked of you. Do not hesitate to ask questions or inclearities.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Cologne is a real students city and therefore I would highly recommend to check out the several Stadtgartens, parks, bars (Brusseler Plätz and Belgische Viertel in general).

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link