Destination Bristol

Placement organization

Name of organization: Destination Bristol
Town/city: Bristol
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: http://www.visitbristol.co.uk

Student

Name of student: Meel Pölkki

Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2019-2020

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: DMO

Organization’s activities: Destination Bristol tries to increase the visitor economy in the area of Bristol. They work together with several businesses in and around Bristol promoting the city to leisure and business tourists. Besides, they arrange press visits for journalists and influencers, host and attend travel trade events and organize familiarisation trips to tour operators.
Target group of the organization: Leisure, business

Company culture: Destination Bristol’s CEO is John and the head of tourism is Kathryn. Regardless of the hierarchy, you can expect a friendly atmosphere in the office as the positions do not seem to matter that much. The communication is quite informal between the staff.

Number of employees: 17
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing

Brief description of your daily activities: Every day usually differs a bit. However, I mainly uploaded and researched events to add on the website, created content to social media channels such as Twitter and Pinterest. Added special offers, improved old and researched new content to the website (accessibility, international students, maps). Changed featured members, emailed to our members when new blog posts were out. In addition, I wrote a blog post as well. I had at the beginning multiple-member visits to different hotels and attractions, which I found out to be an extremely good way to get to know not only Destination Bristol members but also the city. I also got the opportunity to attend a conference and travel trade training.

Brief description of your company assignment: Researching group travel and creating new itineraries.

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Kathryn had just started a new position when I arrived in Bristol. This meant that she would be at Bristol’s office only Monday’s and Friday’s. If I got any questions I could always ask people in the marketing team.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, Sociable, Curious
Additional company requirements for this placement? Writing skills and good level of English
English: Advanced

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

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

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No (This might change in the future as Brexit)
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? If you feel insecure of your English, yes

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € I haven’t counted as I flew from HEL – AMS – BRI
Accommodation (monthly): € 730
Local transport (monthly): € –
General costs of living (monthly): € Haven’t calculated but 300-600?
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? The company does not offer financial compensation/accommodation. However, you’ll get the chance to attend some of the attractions or events for free.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
British culture does not differ that much from Dutch nor Finnish one. I already had friends from the UK so it was easy to come to Bristol.
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: 172373@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be curious and take all the opportunities that are offered to you. Start looking for accommodation early enough, when I got to Bristol they had a huge demand for accommodation as new students started at the uni and University. Explore different areas of Bristol, they all have completely different vibes, which one is your favourite? Go around the UK, the bus connections are good and an easy and cheap way to do it. If you’re interested in hiking, or in a need of seeing a bit of nature head to Wales national parks (Snowdonia/Brecon Beacons).
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Bristol has multiple pubs and bars (it’s a cider lovers city). You can go to exhibitions or theatre shows. My favourite place to go watch a film is Watershed, which is showing independent films for a short period (in general cool place check it out). There are multiple different gyms and a Stadium if you’re into sports, or if you rather get your exercise by shopping Bristol has plenty of big fashion retailers as well as independent shops and vintage shops. In general, there are heaps of things to do in Bristol!

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