Internship Testimonials

Internship Testimonial 15 – Laura

As part of my International Tourism Management degree I had the opportunity to partake in an internship abroad in a tourism-related company. During the application process the company gave me the initial impression that they really invest time in their interns and to offer tasks to develop their strengths and interests.

My everyday tasks included the support of the Disney, Cruise and Incoming Department. I was able to take part in most of the booking process from responding to enquiries, uploading information on Tourplan and sending out quotes to the booking of attractions and creating itineraries. I was also in charge of creating Driver’s Packs. A further responsibility was to build up the cruise website. I even had the opportunity to go on a visit to one of Fred.Olsen’s Cruise Ships. After exporting the Incoming database to a new system I took responsibility for sending out e-shots and keeping the database up-to-date. I was fortunate to go on Familiarisation Trips to York and the Lake District after working on tours for these areas. It was a great experience that showed me the importance of networking and enabled me to get to know the attractions and hotels that Greatdays is working with.

I am partly focusing on Marketing in university and was especially interested in getting to know this area of my business studies in a professional environment. Therefore, Greatdays gave me the chance to participate in a Social Media Marketing Course, work on a Social Media Marketing Strategy and then to implement it.

While I was primarily based in operational departments, Greatdays enabled me to get insight into all of the other departments, even the management tasks and I participated in several meetings. The Internship programme helped me to improve my understanding of how a business works and how important communication is to the running of a successful company.

Many thanks to the friendly, fun and professional Greatdays team who made my experience special and interesting. It has not only helped me to improve my professional skills but also to learn more about my strengths and weaknesses and how to face them in business-life.

Laura Gonzalez (Summer 2016 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 14 – Sarah

As part of my Bachelor Tourism Management course in Germany I had to complete an internship in a tourism-related business. During my research for a suitable company I became aware of Greatdays. The company had previously trained interns and according to published testimonials of former interns the company really took care of the interns and helped them to gain the most of their limited time in the company. I quickly decided to apply for a position and after completing the application procedure I finally got accepted to start my internship in September 2015.

During my time at Greatdays I was able to take part in the entire booking process, from taking the initial enquiries to contracting tours upon confirmation and ensuring all services are booked as requested. While I started compiling ‘Driver’s Packs’ which include helpful information on the booked tour for the group leader, I very soon was allowed to work on new enquiries. Based on the individual requests relevant suppliers are contacted to negotiate specific rates and availability. Once all relevant information is collected, the services are combined and an individual tour quotation is sent to the customer. Upon confirmation the tours are contracted with both the suppliers and the client.

While I was primarily based in the European department, I also had the chance to get insights into several other departments. This helped me to get an overall picture how a business in the tourism industry works and enabled me to understand which role every department takes in order to deliver a quality product. Through various projects I did even get an idea of the tasks the management of a medium-sized business has to face on a daily basis. One of my personal highlights was my first real-life commercial success in a legal proceeding in the European Courts.

It was an interesting and rewarding time and I enjoyed working with the Greatdays team, as they are not only friendly and supportive but have an immense knowledge of the tourism industry.

I would like to thank the amazing European Department who took care of me, always kept me busy and made me and my work feel appreciated. However, my special thanks go to Fran who was happy to answer each and every question and explained everything with an amazing patience during my entire internship.

Sarah Prinz  (Winter 2015 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 13 – Daniel

As part of my bachelor degree in Tourism Management, my year-long internship at Greatdays has not only enabled me to improve my skills but to discover another dimension of the tourism industry that I was not familiar with. After working in hospitality for five years, it was a great opportunity to get more office experience and work in a more B2B environment.

Even though my internship took part in the Air & Cruise Department, I have had the chance to move around within the company and learn more about the business as a whole. Through little assignments, I gained an insight into how each department works and every department fits together within the business. I personally had an interest to broaden my knowledge in finance and luckily I had the chance to spend more time in that department in order to do so.

My main tasks were quite varied as I was working for a department, which had two distinct branches. On the one hand, I was taking enquiries and loading bookings into our system for our cruise department. On the other hand, I was in charge of booking and monitoring all flight reservations, regardless from which department the tour originated. Furthermore, any worldwide tour or enquiry would be dealt by my department which has offered me the opportunity to create and advertise tours to fascinating countries such as Cambodia or Bolivia, which I knew little about.

I would definitely recommend participating in the internship programme as it is a very rewarding experience. It has not only helped me learn more about the travel industry but it also has helped me improve my personal skills, such as organisation or communication. The team has always been a pleasure to work and spend time with. I would like to thank them all for their continuous encouragement and for making this internship an amazing experience.

Daniel Lopes (Full Year 2015 Intern) – Switzerland

Internship Testimonial 12 – Rwana

I strongly recommend Great Days Travel Group to anyone wishing to do an internship with real professionals of tourism.

During my internship period several personal tasks have been entrusted to me such as the creation of driver packs. The packs include information on the different attractions, hotels and the locations. On a daily basis I entered onto the group tours database, Tour Plan all the new creditors and debtors. This operation allows the team to start a new reservation, to find a customer or partners email or phone number quickly with the clients reference code. After being more familiarized with this software I had the chance to make several bookings.

I had various administrative tasks such as the updating of attractions, restaurants, hotels prices or guide services for the 2016 quotation by sending e-mails to the suppliers or via a quick call. I also was responsible for the analysis of customer satisfaction questionnaires, shipments of brochures, the folders arrangement or the creation of a Staff Planner every week.

All the team quickly put me at ease and you feel really integrated, I really felt a family atmosphere at Greatdays and they work well in joy and good humour. I think it is rare to find such an atmosphere suitable to work in a company. I have been trained and accompanied throughout this experience with great patience and pedagogy. So when I did not understand some things I did not hesitate to ask again for an explanation. I was always kept busy by the manager and staff, I really appreciate that point.

During this internship, I had the opportunity to learn a trade in all its forms and now have a comprehensive understanding of the difficulties that employees can meet and their solutions. I learned about the role of the different departments of the tour operator and how they work together. What are the routes to the market , competitors and the Threats to the Business.

There are so many things to explore and every month I had an appointment with my guardian the Managing Director Andy Beard to review what I have done and what I need to do or see again, It  was a great follow up that allowed me to expand my knowledge.

Hereby ,I would like to thank the Greatdays team who have given me the chance to do an  Internship for the third year of my studies in such a nice working environment. I am originally from France and It has also really helped me learn more about the geography of the United Kingdom.

Rwana Etienne (Summer 2015 Intern) – France

Internship Testimonial 11 – Ronja

I started my six months internship at Greatdays in February 2015 as part of my Bachelor degree in Tourism Management. The main department I was involved in was the UK Day Trips department in which I had to load enquiries onto the booking system, send enquiries to different suppliers and finally confirm the booking to the client. Another task I had was making Driver’s Packs for the UK & Ireland department, i.e. putting together information about the different elements of a tour a group had booked. For some of the groups I also had to put together an itinerary, so they would have concrete and detailed information of their booked tour. Furthermore I got additional tasks from other departments, such as Incoming, Europe, Disney, Sales and Accounts. These tasks varied between putting together information on a spreadsheet about possible clients, contacting suppliers via email or telephone and internal office work.

All these exercises gave me a good insight of what each department does and how the whole company works as a group tour operator and wholesaler. At the end I also had to create a new Day Trip by myself for next year’s brochure. That meant I had to find out which attractions could be interesting for our target group, figure out the prices, as well as finding a suitable lunch stop and a guide who would lead and inform the groups. Finally my Manager and I went to ‘test’ the whole trip and I put together the brochure text.

All in all I can say that it was a good experience, not least because of the lovely people at Greatdays. They are all very kind and friendly and I could always ask if I had any question and they really made me feel part of the team.

Ronja Lindemann (Summer 2015 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 10 – Malena

As part of my bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management I had to fulfil an internship in a travel related company. Since I was planning to go abroad, I decided to start my internship at Greatdays in March 2015.

During my time at Greatdays I was based in the European department where I started off doing Driver’s Packs and tour support and later got the opportunity to deal with new enquiries, sending out quotes and finally confirming some of the tours. Besides many little other tasks such as researching for and collecting information about theme parks, hotels, attractions or booking ferries, my main task consisted
 of tour support which means booking all the attractions and tour guides that are included in the several tours.

Spending some time in the other departments, I also learned about their daily tasks and challenges. Doing projects for each of the other departments extended my knowledge about each individual department and helped me to get an overview of the whole company. An internship at Greatdays is a great opportunity to gain insight in the travel industry and the daily tasks of a tour operator. All in all, it was an interesting experience and helped me to develop my knowledge relating to the tourism industry. Everyone at Greatdays was always friendly, supportive and very helpful throughout the entire internship.

Malena Remmele (Summer 2015 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 9 – Vitalij

My main tasks included providing tour support for UK and European departments. Also, to my great fortune I was given a chance to participate in daily operations of all departments of the company. Completing different tasks in different departments really helped me to learn a lot about the business and how it works: various customer service procedures, how the product is marketed and sold, the organisational structure, administrational tasks, movement of money from customers to the company and other. Additionally, I recognized importance of each activity of this business and gained understanding how the business functions as a whole.

Honestly, I enjoyed working with the people at Greatdays. All of them, from employees to directors are extremely kind, friendly and good people in general and I was pleased to work with them. They were very helpful and I was given great support during my internship. Not only are the people at Greatdays nice people, but what is also important, they are experienced professionals in their field – they know what they are doing and how to do it right and you can learn a lot from each of them.

Additionally, I really liked the fact that at Greatdays they really care about their interns during their whole internship period. Interns have to keep a diary to record their progress, interns are given different homework tasks and every three weeks they have a meeting with the director to discuss their progress. All these activities listed above really helped me to organize my involvement and helped me to stay motivated during internship.

Also, I would like to recommend an internship at Greatdays as it is a great opportunity to get so valued work experience nowadays. Unfortunately, not many companies nowadays provide internship opportunities and Greatdays is one of the several companies that practice such thing. I believe, during my internship I have learned a lot about the travel industry and developed different skills needed to work in it. But it is way more than that – at this internship you learn about all sorts of business activities, how company functions and this experience and knowledge can be applied not only to tourism but to many other different industries and can be very helpful in terms of improving employability. I think I really developed myself as a personality and acquired various really useful and valuable skills that will be beneficial for me in the future.

To summarize, I would like to say that Greatdays is a really good place to do internship: it is definitely a great place to work at, it is a great place to learn and it is a great place to get work experience. I would like to say thank you to all people who I met at Greatdays as they are exceptionally good people to work with.

Vitalij Jurgelevic (Winter 2014 Intern) – Lithuania

Internship Testimonial 8 – Andrea

I started my internship at Greatdays at the end of February 2014 for 6 months as part of my degree in International Tourism Management. During my time at Greatdays I was an intern in the European, Disney, Air & Cruise departments but mainly spent my time doing work for the cruise department. I really enjoyed working in this department as I got the opportunity to see the normal working routine in an operational department. My tasks involved the whole booking process from getting an enquiry to confirming a cruise to communicating with both the suppliers and clients.

I also got the opportunity to get an insight into all the other departments at Greatdays which helped me to understand how a company works and how to run a company successfully. Furthermore, I was able not just to improve my communication skills but also my written English and the skill of dealing with deadlines. As an overall experience I can say that I am glad that I did the internship at Greatdays.

Andrea Scheu (Summer 2014 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 7 – Jana

I am currently studying International Tourism Management in Germany and as part of my bachelor’s degree I had to fulfil an internship which I decided to do abroad. I was looking forward to extending my theoretical knowledge by practical experience.”

In the last five months I was mostly involved with the UK and Ireland department, but also gained insight into every department of the business which enabled me to learn about the business as a whole. My main task included the preparation of information driver’s packs for the UK and Ireland department. Furthermore, I received several tasks from the different departments which provided me with a variety of tasks to complete.

Additionally, I was given the opportunity to take part in delivering one of the Greatdays Music Hall Events in Chester. This was a great experience with the added opportunity to get an idea of how the final product is delivered.

Greatdays offered me the opportunity to learn and develop myself in many different ways. I not only improved my professional communication skills and my time management as well as gained a lot of new knowledge about the tourism industry but I also became more self-confident and responsible.

I am certain that the practical experience and additional knowledge about the tourism industry that I gained during my internship will be very advantageous to me during my further year of studies as well as to my occupational choice in the future.

I really enjoyed the pleasant working environment and felt to be part of the team right from the beginning. I would like to thank everyone at Greatdays for the support and willingness to help me throughout my Internship.

Jana Eichhorst (Summer 2014 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 6 – Mirja

I am studying International Business at the University of Applied Sciences Pforzheim in Germany. As part of my bachelor’s degree I have to complete an internship. As my position should include international work aspects, I decided to work for a company abroad. As I have always been interested in travelling and foreign cultures the position at Greatdays totally fitted to my premises.

The tasks I have covered during my internship at Greatdays range over several departments. My main work was based in the European department and occupied most of my time. I was working as a tour operations assistant and my main tasks can be described as tour planning. As a tour operator you are the link between client and supplier. You are responsible to communicate the required services of the client to the supplier and thereby secure that all of their preferences are fulfilled. My work improved my written and spoken English as well as my handling with deadlines and difficulties.

During my internship at Greatdays I got insights in every department of the company and their function in the business. I got to know the daily work of the employees, which helped me to determine my personal preferences.

I would definitely recommend an internship at Greatdays as it is a great opportunity to gain an insight into the working world and especially into the travel industry. I have learned so much during my time at Greatdays. Now I have got a better understanding of the travel industry, can operate computer systems such as Tourplan and experienced working in a great team. It is a good start into the working life and should not be missed. Furthermore the time abroad made me more self-reliant and responsible.

Mirja Böhler (Summer 2013 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 5 – Lana

I started on the 1st of August 2013 and was immediately fully integrated into the team. The main department I was involved in was the Inbound Department, which is responsible for organising tours or selling just particular elements of the packages to their clients from different countries, in other words, to agents, whose customers are interested in visiting Great Britain.

During my internship I learnt every single step from the initial request to finished products and was required to apply negotiation, analytical and soft skills. The job I carried out consisted of such tasks as contacting the hotels, negotiating rates, finding the best deals for the clients and communicating with them. I was also granted permission to issue invoices and vouchers for prepaid hotels as well as attractions. As the company was about to launch a new booking system, contributing to the project, in form of checking the new system as well as writing ‘Agent Instructions’ and updating the system with the rates, made me reinforce such skills as paying attention to details and being able to solve problems on my own as well as within a team.

Being an intern at a company, which is quite small but has so many operational departments, was very beneficial to me as I really got to know everything from different angles. I had the chance to get insight into every department and so could get the overall picture of how the business is run and what is required to maintain a competitive advantage.

In the last 5 months I have learnt so much, not just in relation to business, but also such fundamental issues as communication within the company, conflict management, cultural differences, time management and project management.

Due to everyone’s openness, cooperativeness and warmness I developed strong relationships with every department and it will be extremely difficult to say goodbye to them. My Russian girls in the Inbound Department, who I had worked with closely and my lovely UK & Ireland Department, which made me feel welcome and taught me so much from common English phrases to professional communication on the phone, will be missed a lot. Admin, Finance, Sales & Marketing, Day Trips & Tour Support and European & Air/Cruise/Disney Departments, which were always ready to help, will never be forgotten.

Most sincerely, I would like to thank Andy Beard who gave me the opportunity to join the company, who integrated me into the ‘GREATDAYS’ family and who was supportive and helpful throughout the entire internship.

I am sure this internship is the ground I will build my future on because I did not just gain experience but also developed and strengthened my personality in a way which will bring me only forward. The person I am now is more self-confident, open-minded and diligent.

Lana Swonarjow (Summer 2013 Intern) – Germany

Internship Testimonial 4 – Sam

Being a Business and IT student I understood early on in my degree studies that in order for me to improve my academic ability and eventually find a graduate role that work experience was vital. I was lucky enough to be offered a 6 month summer IT internship role at Greatdays Travel Group. Working on an IT project to enhance the companies booking system I was fortunate enough to be working with very experienced project leaders.

The first skill I grasped was the importance of time management and working to set deadlines and the impact if they were not met. I felt as an intern at Greatdays I was not placed in the shadows but was being given a real role that was really important for the project to progress and meet it’s deadline. The second skill was my attention to detail, as I had a strict set of requirements that could have had an impact on different areas of the company if not adhered to. No requirement could be generalised, the new system that was being implemented was to be tailored to different departments and they all had a set of requirements which were detailed, but just as important as each other. The third skill that I felt I started to develop without even realising first hand was an attitude of ‘can do.’ Although I had entered this role with a lot of motivation to develop myself, I soon began to realise that not just the project team but everyone I had interacted with at Greatdays had a similar approach of ‘we can do.’ It was with this that I really developed my team interaction skills and I truly understood that this was a company where everyone was working together as a team.

Working at Greatdays has really developed me as a person as well as my technical skills and has enabled me to go back to university with greater self confidence. Without learning the importance of time management, attention to detail and a can do attitude at Greatdays I do not believe I would have been able to cope well in my final year of my degree where all these skills were put into practice.

Towards the end of my degree it was time to start looking for possible graduate positions. I would personally like to thank Andy Beard who if it was not for his advice on my search for a graduate role, and for giving me the opportunity to work within Greatdays Travel Group I know I would have struggled to find a job. It took me as little as one week after my last university exam to be offered a role as a Junior Project Manager and I put this down to the ‘can do’ attitude I gained from working at Greatdays. On a personal and final note, I would like to thank everyone I worked with at Greatdays Travel Group during my time there. I truly met some wonderful people with a wealth of knowledge and experience and if it was not for them I would not be where I am today.

Sam Slater (Summer 2012 Intern) – UK

Internship Testimonial 3 – Sarah

I applied for my internship after graduating from university with a degree in Geography with American Studies. Realising that I needed more than just enthusiasm to get a career in travel I began my six month Internship at Greatdays in January of 2013.

I had little office experience and during my internship gained experience in all areas of the business from sales and marketing to tour support. My Internship started in the Disneyland Paris department and this I felt was the product that I would be most interested in selling and had the most knowledge about.

My main responsibilities were the creation of both the Disney and European departments drivers packs, researching and compiling information on the routes and destinations of the tours. I also developed old and new itineraries for the Air department and researched new cruise itinerates. As my internship progressed I got the opportunity to assist in the creation of the online booking system that will be used by incoming agents to book London hotels learning how to use the Tourplan booking system to create the webpage.

I also researched and contacted potential clients for several upcoming events in Disneyland Paris including the Magical Mini Adventure and Dance Camp 5. I also assisted the sales department in the mailing of the companies group travel guide to clients as well as other mail outs. I gained an insight to the pricing structure of Disneyland Paris groups and created personalised quotes for clients. Completing bookings through to confirmation stage was a particular favourite experience of mine as I felt like I was making a contribution both to the company and the clients, by providing them with the perfect package to suit their needs. To help with the development of my knowledge of the Disneyland Paris product I visited the parks on a familiarisation trip that helped me assist clients with their enquiries about the parks and hotels.

My biggest achievement during my internship was my personal growth, building my confidence to use the telephone system to both answer incoming calls and make calls to clients and suppliers. Each of the tasks I completed and the skills that I learnt were transferable to my CV and will help me progress in my career. I would like to thank Lynne, Jess and Caroline in the Disneyland Paris Department as well as the Air, Cruise and European teams for being welcoming and helping me develop my skills and knowledge.

Sarah Phythian (Summer 2013 Intern) – UK

Internship Testimonial 2 – Louise

After working in hospitality for over a decade, I was looking to progress forward from just having a job to gaining a career. I took part in a nine month Internship at Greatdays, focussing in the Tour Support role in the UK Operations department, but with the added benefit of sitting with each of the different departments in the business to learn more about the business as a whole. The help and support I have received at Greatdays has been fantastic and the team here is exceptionally friendly and informative.

I began my Internship with a lot of motivation but very little actual office experience. I feel that I have developed some highly beneficial skills that my CV had previously lacked. I gained a lot of confidence and often asked for more responsibilities within the role to expand my knowledge within the business. As well as assisting with researching into and the booking of attractions in Tour Support, I was also able to get heavily involved with the Daytrips department. I was soon taking enquiries and loading bookings onto the operations system, Tourplan whilst learning a lot about the country along the way! I was also given the responsibility of covering the department when Jennie the Day Trips manager was out of the office on FAM trips or holidays.

One of my biggest achievements during my Internship at Greatdays was working on two huge incoming bookings over the summer, one during the Olympics and one a corporate incentive trip to London. I planned coach movements, airport arrival schedules and organised tour guides for panoramic tours of London prior to the groups arriving. I also got the opportunity to go down to London and meet the groups when they arrived to ensure that their trips ran as smoothly as possible. I gained enormous amounts of experience from being so hands-on with these bookings and really enjoyed taking charge on a number of occasions.

I would thoroughly recommend participating in the Internship programme at Greatdays as it is extremely rewarding to be able to work for such a professional and well-run family company. I have personally learnt a lot from my time as an Intern at Greatdays, not only about the travel industry in general but also about how I can taper my own ambitions into a truly gratifying career. The positive backing and encouragement from the whole team here was amazing and I thank them all enormously for helping me to achieve my goals.

Louise Annesley (Summer 2012 Intern) – UK

Internship Testimonial 1 – Magali

I have been studying tourism in France for the last three years and in order to gain real life experience and also as part of my bachelor degree, I needed to carry out a period of work experience abroad. The Internship at Greatdays came as a good opportunity to me and for 4 months I worked within the European and UK operations departments. My main role within the company was to develop a new drivers pack service, which following its successful trial, is now being given to all Greatdays clients.

The Internship gave me an invaluable opportunity to develop and improve my general knowledge of the tourism industry, both inbound and outbound. I fely very much part of the team and I carried out various tasks such as assisting with tour brochures and itineraries, quotations, sales updates, tour research etc. It was very interesting to work in a family owned company like Greatdays and I felt it was really beneficial for me personally. Not only did I improve my English, but I also got to strengthen my communication and organisational skills. This was a great experience, I would definitely do again if I could and I would recommend Greatdays to anyone considering entering into an Internship. Greatdays is professional but also a fun company to work for! They are a very nice bunch of people who are always happy to help and they will make you feel very much at home.

I would like to say a big thanks to Greatdays and especially to Gina, Kym and all the European Team who have all been great to me, and also to Paul Beaumont for having given me this opportunity.

Magali Courbez (Summer 2011 Intern) – Spain