Discover Holidays

Placement organization

Name of organization: Discover Holidays
Town/city: Vancouver
Country: Canada
Website: http://www.discoverholidays.ca

Student

Name of student: Sara Kirk

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

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Discover Holidays is a receptive inbound tour operator that specializes in designing and operating tailor-made travel itineraries in Canada and Alaska. They offer high-quality vacations to the independent traveler.
Target group of the organization: international, independent and discerning travelers
Company culture: There is no real hierarchy, even as an intern you’re treated just like all other employees. This makes it informal.
Number of employees: 40
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/ quality assurance

Brief description of your daily activities:
– assisting in production of the annual Canada and Alaska tariffs
– processing supplier confirmations
– construction and distribution of travel documents
– creating online bookings for several suppliers (airlines, ferries, activities,…)
– updating itineraries and prices on the website for direct clients & in the portal for the wholesale clients
Brief description of your company assignment:
As my company assignment, I am working on a destination analysis with focus on change and development of travel trends and its repercussions on Discover Holidays.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor gives me great support. She trusts me with important projects and gives me a lot of responsibility.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement?
stress-proof, detail-oriented, efficient, accurate, well organized, team-worker, independently motivated
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office (basics)
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, a work permit
Do you need a work permit? Yes, either the Working Holiday, Young Professional, or International Co-op visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Canadian government website
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 4 months (make sure to check processing times for your country and organize all your documents before applying for the visa)
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? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1100
Accommodation (monthly): € 610
Local transport (monthly): € 1 zone ticket valid for 90 minutes = 2€ / monthly ticket €64
General costs of living (monthly): € 300
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: ca. €250, depends on your country’s visa requirements
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation. The company knows that Vancouver is really expensive so the compensation is really fair and allowed me to pay for rent and all other expenses.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I lived in Canada before so I knew what to expect. It’s not too different from Germany (where I’m from). One thing that is really different though is how open and nice everyone is in Canada. Also, the stereotype that Canadians are super friendly and apologize for everything is definitely true.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Canadians are very open, which helped me feel at home at the company after only a few weeks. I believe this clearly influenced my performance.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: sarak.610@web.de

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Speak your mind! Discover Holidays is always looking for ways to improve and they appreciate all opinions.
Join the weekly drinks! Every Friday afternoon, all employees start ringing in the weekend by drinking a glass of wine or beer. The alcohol is provided by the company, and even the owners join in sometimes.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Vancouver is known for its beautiful nature and landscapes. If you want to find the perfect balance between big city life and nature, you’ll find it right here!
Take the bus from downtown and only 30 minutes later, you’re in the mountains. Canada and the Vancouver area have so much to offer, so there will never be a boring day.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link