Weekendesk

Placement organization

Name of organization: Weekendesk
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website: https://www.weekendesk.be/nl/

Student

Name of student: Nina Blaak

Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2018-2019

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: Weekendesk is specialized in short thematic getaways, think about themes such as romantic, wellness, gastronomic and more around Europe. They sell packages, including breakfast and certain special activities (e.g. welcomedrink, a glass of champagne, access to wellness). Their idea is: don´t wait for the holidays, go now!
Target group of the organization: Everyone that wants to go on a weekend getaway
Company culture: The culture is really informal. There is a nice balance between jokes and professionalism, there is a lot of laughter but we all focus when it´s necessary. The office itself is open, you work with around 120 other employees in the same office. All employees are really open and nice, you can always ask something to everyone and they will help you. The employees are from all over the world – which gives a really nice intercultural atmosphere. Even though I am ¨only¨ an intern, I feel really included in the company.
Number of employees: 120
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

The supply department for Benelux is divided in Belgium and Luxemburg, Netherlands, Germany. Our team consists of 1 team leader, 2 area managers, 5 market managers and 3 interns. Our department is responsible for delivering the product: so creating the packages.

Next to the Benelux department, there are more departments for supply that are located in Barcelona, which are Spain and Italy. The supply team of France is located in the office in Paris.

Sometimes, you will be in contact with these other supply teams, as well as the contracting, loading, marketing and customer service department.

Brief description of your daily activities: My responsibilities consist of making sure hotels are available on the website, by calling and mailing hotels to open rooms. This is a main responsibility as an intern, you´re mostly in contact with these hotels. Secondly, you create packages, ensuring an attractive title, nice pictures and sufficient information for the guest. Furthermore, you also have some small tasks, such as adjusting certain information of hotels on the website on their request or changing the pictures. Lastly, you compare our packages to our competitors, and see if we are still competitive or not.
Brief description of your company assignment: I am doing research on how the AOV (average order value) can be increased.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I work for the Belgium part of our department, which consists of three people, 1 area manager and 2 market managers. I am mainly in contact with the hotels of the area manager and one market manager, and I am always allowed to ask questions to them (which was really nice the first few weeks). They both sit next to me, which makes it handy to ask questions. Both of them are really helpful and easy-going, we laugh a lot during work and go for lunch or drinks together sometimes. They also tell me what I can do better – but always in a nice and respectful way. This way, you also learn something.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Teamplayer, flexible, stress-proof, sociable, independent
Additional company requirements for this placement? Writing skills, Outlook
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: For this position, Dutch should be your mother tongue since you´re in contact with a lot of Belgian hotels.

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Me and another student found an apartment via Airbnb.
How did you go to work every day? by metro

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? I recommend you to only get the Social Security Number, which the company will explain. You can arrange this in Barcelona.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Weekendesk send me a list with offices where I could arrange this.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1 hour
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? If you are fluent in Dutch and English, this is not necessary. However, it is nice to know some Spanish, for in the office but also outside of the office.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 170
Accommodation (monthly): € 640
Local transport (monthly): € You can get a T10 for €10 or a monthly card.
General costs of living (monthly): € 450
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? I receive a financial compensation of €500 each month (after tax).

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare myself for the culture, I have been to Spain multiple times.
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: 160887@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: I would start on time with searching for accommodation and to be critical (especially about the area).
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Barcelona is a great city to live in. Visit the touristic things such as Park Guell, Arc de Triomf, Sagrada Familia and the beach of course. However, it has so much more to offer as well: go to the bunkers to see the sunset, visit the Tibidabo church and themepark and definitely visit Montserrat.

Besides, there are a lot of interns working in the company, so there is always someone up to do something. They are all very welcoming and friendly, and we do stuff outside of the office as well.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link