Daegu Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCBV)

Placement organization

Name of organization: Daegu Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCBV)
Town/city: Daegu
Country: Zuid-Korea
Website: http://www.daegucvb.com

Student

Name of student: Zita Laczkovich

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: MICE and destination management
Organization’s activities: Marketing, PR, convention service
Target group of the organization: Asian Pacific market, mainly Korean
Company culture: Although there is a strong hierarchy in Korea, at DCVB the atmosphere was genial. They gave me the opportunity to work with all the different departments, but mainly with the Brand Strategy Team.
Number of employees: 10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Convention Teams (with a special focus on the medical field, sport organizations and specialized industries) + Brand Strategy Team
I was assigned to the Brand Strategy Team, but due to the fact that DCVB is small, I was involved in different departments.
Brief description of your daily activities: Information research and reports for the marketing activity, editing English contents of press releases and website for PR and communication. General office works, such as documenting and receiving foreign visitors.
Brief description of your company assignment: Information research about international associations’ convention (medical field, technology), development plan of SNS promotion, creating databases, study and creating tour and cultural programs targeted as Western tourists and delegates, city marketing (by writing articles about the different activities in Daegu).
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My company supervisor was fantastic, very helpful and concerned about my well-being.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independence, sociability, flexibility, positive attitude, open-mind, patience
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Internet
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Korean. Although the company doesn’t require Korean knowledge, I’d strongly recommend this placement for those who can speak at least a little bit of Korean. During the working hours I heard only Korean (meetings, phone calls, etc.) which was a big disadvantage for me.

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? My company offered me home-stay, what I accepted. I stayed with a Korean family (3 children), which was a really good cultural experience.
How did you go to work every day? The head of the family was my co-worker, so he drove me to work every day.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes
How long in advance did you apply for visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Quite a long time
Did you need certain vaccinations? No

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? Yes, Korean

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 600,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 300,00 (home-stay: acc + meals)
Local transport (monthly): € 1,00 single ticket
General costs of living (monthly): € 300,00
Costs of visa: € 50,00
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? EUR 150,00 per month for lunch

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? For me, it was quite easy to adopt the Korean culture in the daily and working life, but obviously it is very different from the Western culture. One among many cultural factors, the hardest was the language, since many Koreans can’t or too shy to speak in English (at DCVB everyone speaks good English) and as I said earlier, during the working hours I heard solely Korean (since 99% of the customers are Koreans). To adopt the strong hierarchical system might be also difficult for some people. At DCVB, all the members are aware of the cultural differences and they didn’t expect from me to behave as a Korean (eg. to bow).

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: zitaaa@index.hu

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Try to understand the Korean mentality! Try to read a lot about the culture to avoid culture shock and to understand them better. Always show respect towards older people, even if they are very friendly with you (eg. you can call someone your friend only if you were born in the same year). Also, try to learn some basic Korean, since it is difficult to get around only with English. Besides all the challenges, it was a fantastic experience!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Korea is a beautiful country to discover! Since it is not a big country and has an amazing transportation system, it is very easy to get around. There are many different festivals (eg. crab, strawberry, mud festival), temples, mountains, public baths, amusement parks, clubs and a lot more.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link