Greeting from Beijing, China! First of all I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your internship. I am Elva Han. Starting from June, 2011, I have worked at TUI China as an operator in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, and Exhibitions) department.
Front Desk & Company Logo
China has long been a popular tourist destination thanks to its rich historical and cultural attractions, as well as its breathtaking natural landscape. China’s economic development and reform has helped the nation become the second largest economy in the world as measured by GDP. Domestic Chinese travel is no longer the high growth segment it used to be within the travel industry, rather there is more emphasis being placed on exciting, exotic outbound travel. Many more Chinese can afford expensive outbound travel in order to experience different lifestyles and environments. With rising living standards, China’s outbound tourism has been developing fast. In 2011, outbound travelers reached 47 million (that number is more than the total population of Canada) to more than 130 travel destinations around the world. In spite of my major in hospitality, I decided to do an internship with Tui China, one of the premier international tour service agents in China. Due to the Germany-based company background, our clients are mainly from automotive industry like BMW, Porsche, VW…
The transition from academic to professional life is not easy. It requires learning a great deal of soft and hard skills. I am trying my best to manage daily business. I have learned a great deal and believe my experience as an intern will be highly beneficial to my future career.
Office Building on Chang'an Avenue, Beijing
My daily work schedule:
I wake up around 6:30 am with a 10 to 15 minute “cooling period” to allow my sleepy eyes to open. My morning routine lasts about an hour. Soon after that is completed, I enjoy my mom’s home-made breakfast and I let myself enjoy “my day of appreciation”. My journey is started at 8:00 am sharp and of course it is always enjoyable and exciting.
Traffic jam on the way to office
Driving in a big city like Beijing is not easy. You have to be very astute in selecting the most efficient route without getting trampled by the daily rush hour. It is really hard to comprehend a city like Beijing which has over 20 million residents and over 8 million vehicles. Thank god, I always manage my time fairly well.
My day is about to start at 9:00 am, but before that I need a little boost; a grand sized iced latte; always my favorite.
Iced Latte, my favorite
Walking toward my office and waving hello to my colleagues, I have just a few chats to bring myself closer to the working environment. I thought the transition would be difficult at the very beginning, but when the time came to work I was proved wrong. It takes just a matter of time for me to get used to my new situation.
Turning on my computer and checking my emails is always the first thing to do. A routine morning meeting hosted by the division manager is very important. He assigns every single task to fellow division members and discusses various issues relating to Chinese Outbound Tour Groups, such as travel itinerary, visas, accommodation, transportation, and so on. I normally have a small coaching session with the division manager right after the meeting in order for me to have a better understanding of the company’s operations as well as for my division of the daily business. Around 10:30 am, I start discussing issues with my co-worker on an outbound tour itinerary. There are lots of detailed issues that need to be ironed out in regards to selecting locations, suitable accommodation, dining, and transportation. After the discussion, we go online and browse location information, check hotel prices, and talk to embassy people in regards to visa applications.
The sea of cubicles~~
There is 6 hours difference between China and Europe. I communicate with prospective clients in Europe to confirm our tour itinerary with them. Cross border communication is very interesting. I find it a useful position filling the gap between Chinese and European clients and gaining first-hand information. I then confirm the itinerary schedule and determine whether or not it is viable for our client’s budget. I have a final talk with my coworkers on the tour itinerary and report to my manager. What intense and fast-paced work.
My little cubicle~~
Suddenly, my cell phone is ringing. My mom is asking me what I want to eat. It is almost 6:10pm. Let’s call it a day so I can set myself free.
On the way home~!
Here are two links that you can look at in order to get more details about Tui China:
Tui China http://tui.cn/en/
Tui China press conference video http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/UIF_96xh1I0/
This is about Beijing, the Capital city of China:
Visiting Beijing http://english.visitbeijing.com.cn/
Here are links that you can look at in order to get more details about the projects that I participated during the internship:
BMW Mission 3 http://www.bmw.com.cn/cn/zh/insights/events/pool/mission3/2011/overview.html
BMW: The M festival, 24H RACE NÜRBURGRING. http://www.m-power.com/_open/b/varlink2.jsp?lang=en
