Barrio Life BV

Placement organization

Name of organization: Barrio Life BV
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website:

Student

Name of student: Sabrina Schaalje
Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2021-2022

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Organizing trips to the destinations Andalusia, Portugal and Morocco.
Target group of the organization: Dutch and Belgium tourists
Company culture: – Flat organization: there is not really a hierarchy within the organization. There are, obviously, several CEO’s and managers, but you do not have the feeling that you are an intern.
– Informal culture: the employees feel like friends at the same time.
– Freedom: e.g. you can decide yourself at what time you want to start your work day as long as it is between 08:00 and 10:00 and you work 8 hours a day.
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?

Sales department

Brief description of your daily activities: – Process bookings in the online system: create customer file, create customer contact and prepare invoice.
– Compile travel documents: information on flights, the car rental and the trip itself (such as a day program).
– Keep records: maintaining an overview of the organization’s income and expenses.
– Process customer feedback: process survey responses and take action if necessary.
– Telephone and email management: handling calls and emails from clients.
Brief description of your company assignment: Composing a trip through Andalusia, staying with a host/hostess in a Bed & Breakfast where personal contact is highly valued.

Please note that the assignment will be compiled for you in consultation with your supervisor in one of the first weeks of your internship
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Once a week you have a management meeting with your supervisor in which he or she gives you feedback on that week’s tasks and responsibilities. You will also discuss your development points and you can ask questions about issues for which you need his or her input. Furthermore, you can always go to any employee in between meetings with any questions and everyone is always willing to help you where necessary.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Social, both independent and team player, stress-proof, organized, accurate, result-oriented and detail-oriented
Additional company requirements for this placement? Not really, besides the fact that you need to download a few programs on your personal laptop.
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages: Dutch: advanced or mother tongue

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Before I went on my internship, I contacted Barrio Life to ask if they already knew who the other interns were, after which I got the names of two fellow students. We decided that it would be easiest to rent an apartment together, after which we searched the Internet for a suitable place. After a while we found a nice apartment on SHBarcelona and we decided to contact them and not much later we signed a contract. Please note that the average prices for an accommodation in Barcelona fall around 500 to 600 euros per person.
How did you go to work every day? By 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:
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? Dutch language is required!

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 200 euros
Accommodation (monthly): € Around 550 euros
Local transport (monthly): € You can buy a T-Joven card that gives you three months of unlimited public transport for 80 euros.
General costs of living (monthly): € 500 à 600 euro
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? You will receive a monthly allowance of approximately 200 euros and, depending on your internship grade, you may also receive a bonus at the end of your internship period, ranging from 50 to 150 euros per month of internship.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not really prepare myself for the culture since I believe that the difference between the Netherlands and Spain is not ultra large. The only differences I had to adjust to or get used to are the meal times and that people here act ‘tranquillo’.
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: 191976@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Tip: do not go in the neighborhood ‘El Raval’ because of crime!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Some tips of things to visit or do in Barcelona.

Sightseeing:
– Montjuïc, Montserrat and Tibidabo
– Sagrada Familia
– Park Güell
– Camp Nou
– Parc de la Ciutadella
– Bunkers del Carmel
– Houses of Gaudí

Restaurants:
– Tapas street ‘Carrer de Blai’ (restaurant La Bota)
– Makamaka
– Carabella
– Quillo
– Sensi Tapas
– Xup Xup
– Perikette

Beautiful terraces with views:
– La Terrassa del Duquesa
– The rooftop at Sir Victor
– Terrace Ayre Rosellon Hotel
– Cercle

Nightlife and bars:
– Wolf, Razzmatazz and Opium
– Jamboree
– Rei de Copes
– Mr. Robinson
– Farola
– Paradiso
– Sauvage

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