Abbey Ireland & UK

Placement organization

Name of organization: Abbey Ireland & UK
Town/city: Dublin
Country: Ierland
Website: https://www.abbey.ie

Student

Name of student: Dianne Lammers

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

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Destination Management Company
Organization’s activities: They provide group and individual travel services in Ireland and the UK.
Target group of the organization: Worldwide travel trade
Company culture: Abbey is a very relaxed and professional company. The employees are very knowledgable about tourism industry and their work field. It is a big company, however the company culture is overall informal. If you would need to talk to someone for your assignment they will make time for you. The dress code is no jeans (only on Friday), but you don’t have to wear a suit or something like that. Just formal.
Number of employees: 145 >
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

FIT (Foreign Individual Travel) department in the mornings, and Groups department for Guaranteed Departures in the afternoons.

All other vacancy’s are only for one department.

Brief description of your daily activities: In the FIT department I handle bookings, make quotations for clients and make sure everything is in order for the traveling pax. Furthermore, I handle cancellations, sending the vouchers and handle any other enquires the clients have.

In the Groups department I also insert bookings. Next to this, I make rooming lists for the hotels, finalize the itinerary for the group and the driver/guide, send hotel lists to the agents, make the welcome letters and vouchers and send bulk messages for the airport transfers. Basically it is helping with making sure everything is in order and arranged for the traveling group.
Brief description of your company assignment: I am doing my research assignment about movie tourism in Ireland. How a nice market as movie tourism could contribute to increase pax numbers and revenue for Abbey. I came up with the subject movie tourism myself. My coach in the company helped me with making the placement plan and putting the subject into the problem analysis.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: They gave me a very warm welcome. Everyone makes you feel comfortable and if you have a problem you can always go to someone. You will have someone (the manager of your department or another colleague) who can help you with your assignment and who will fill in the two reviews about you. Of course, it is also possible to talk to other persons in the company, if you need their insight. They will also ask from time to time if everything is ok for you.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Working idepently, sociable, good communication skills, flexible.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, English language skills
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: If you speak other languages this is certainly a pre in the company. They have native speakers for every market so make sure you tell them if you speak other modern languages.

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via friends from my parents. I live with their son, who lives in Dublin.
How did you go to work every day? with the LUAS (tram)

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? Only if you have to improve your English or another language that is required for your position.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 150EUR (check-in luggage included)
Accommodation (monthly): € I don’t pay rent (normal in Dublin is 600 – 800 EUR for a room close or in city centre)
Local transport (monthly): € 80 EUR (20EUR each week for the student public transport card)
General costs of living (monthly): € 400 EUR (pubs included:) but depends if you also count trips in the weekends)
Costs of visa: 
Costs of work permit:
What did the company pay for/to you? 300EUR per month
one staff weekend away for 2 persons in a 3* Hotel or B&B including breakfast

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I actually just went with the flow. I read a little bit on the internet about the culture in company’s in Ireland. Abbey is a very multicultural company so you will get to know many different people, which I think is really interesting
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: diannelammers@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t stress to much
I was very nervous about working in English in a big company, but everyone is so nice and welcoming that stressing is really not necessary.
Don’t worry about making friends, there are so many other interns in the company that you will make friends the first week.

For some positions it might be useful to already know the popular places in Ireland. Make yourself a little bit known with the map of Ireland and driving distances.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Dublin is a city with many hidden gems. You can enjoy pubs, clubs, cocktail bars, good restaurants and coffee bars. I went a lot of my weekends to other places in Ireland, for example Killarney, Galway and Donegal.

Every Friday there are drinks next to the office in Ireland’s oldest pub; The Brazen Head. A good way to get to know other colleagues and a good start of the weekend.

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