Explorica by WorldStrides

Placement organization

Name of organization: Explorica by WorldStrides
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: https://www.explorica.com/

Student

Name of student: Patrick Cornelissen

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

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Explorica organises educational tours, mostly to Europe.
Target group of the organization: Middle school & high school students from America, Canada and Australia
Company culture: Informal. There is no strong hierarchy.
Number of employees: 22
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 department

Brief description of your daily activities:
– Searching for suitable restaurants online and sending out inquiries (e-mail & phone)
– Making bookings
– Negotiating with suppliers
– Purchasing tickets for tourist attractions
– Creating, adjusting, and allocating tour components in the system
– Creating travel information lists
– Stamping metro tickets and delivering them to hotels across London
– Processing invoices

Brief description of your company assignment: Analysing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s operations and performance.

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Every Monday I would work together with one colleague, every Tuesday with another and so on. Every one of them has their own travel region they are responsible for. In addition to that the operations manager would be present as well to manage the team.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, independent, flexible, organised and punctual.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, Microsoft Teams, English writing skills.
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Any additional language skills (e.g. Spanish, German) may come in handy.

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via the SpareRoom app
How did you go to work every day? 20 mins by tube, then 10 mins on foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Myself, assisted by the Placement Office
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? A couple of weeks
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? N/A

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 your level of English is below B2

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 160
Accommodation (monthly): € 630
Local transport (monthly): € 85
General costs of living (monthly): € 500
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of 300 GBP per month. There is free coffee, tea, tap water and fruit available at the office as well.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did some research on the British culture online.
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: 172461@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be open minded as you will find a lot of different nationalities working in the office. Work hard, be pro-active and show that you are eager to learn and you will get a lot of freedom, appreciation and own responsibilities in return.

Make sure to apply for an 18+ Student Oyster photocard as it will save you a lot of money on public transport. Also start searching for a room on time.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: London has loads to offer! If you subscribe to the Cheapskate London newsletter every Monday, you will receive an update with free/cheap events for that week. Check for student discounts as well before you buy any tickets anywhere! Most of all, enjoy your time.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link