Name: James

University: University of Gloucestershire

Course: Marketing Management

Heading to: Queenstown, New Zealand

For how long: 12 months +

Starting: February 2010

Intern Options Programme:

Hospitality Internships Programme

James applied to Intern Options for his New Zealand Hospitality internship in December 2009. James’s application was a bit different to the majority of hospitality students and graduates we usually accept on our internship programme.

Although James went to the University of Gloucestershire, who we place a lot of hospitality and tourism students from, James had not studied hospitality. A graduate in business, James decided he had a passion for hotels and went about getting experience in a local hotel.

James wrote one of the best cover letters Intern Options has seen, which in large contributed to his excellent placement he has in Queenstown, New Zealand.

Because James was a graduate, he was a bit more flexible with his start date. This flexibility was not needed as we secured James a great placement in under a month.

So what does James have to look forward to?

James has been placed for one year into Queenstown in a very good hotel. If he impresses them, which I am sure he will, there is the Rugby World Cup coming to New Zealand in 2011. I am sure James will be given the opportunity to move to Auckland where the competition end of the tournament will be held.

We wish James all the best in New Zealand, hope you enjoy the end of the summer in Queenstown. The best thing about being in Queenstown is you have the winter to look forward to and some of the best skiing in the Southern Hemisphere.

All the best James!

If you’re interested in a Tourism Internship in Queenstown, Auckland, Wellington, Rotorua in New Zealand, check out the Hospitality Internships page for more information.

Jon has made the effort to give a brief summary of how my departing from the UK went. Thank you for that. Now I will try to tell you guys the whole story…

It all began about a year ago when my second academic year resumed in Bournemouth University. Our lecturers were preparing us for our placement year and giving us options to choose from. Many seemed tempting but nothing really caught my attention. I am doing a Tourism management course and what I wanted to do is work in an adventure tourism resort. When I ‘googled’ it, all that came up was New Zealand and that is how I decided, I am going there for my internship!!

As Jon described, it was one exciting preparation. I handed in my application at the beginning of 2009 but due to the economic crunch, I had to wait a very long time until I had a proposition. In fact, I received it 3 weeks before departure. It was a mission to get everything organised in such a short time. My Visa was ready in less than 24 hours.

I had to get a last minute flight and booked one with the Emirates Airline (London, Dubai, Sidney and Auckland). Being a Bulgarian citizen, I needed to have a transit Visa for Australia. I didn’t know that! I found out at the check in deck. There was no way I could get that visa from the airport so I missed that flight. I thought the whole world was falling into pieces.. However, this was just another obstacle. I booked another flight the next day stopping at Hong Kong where I didn’t require anything to transit. This was the longest flight ever!!! I never want to do it again. But I will!!

New Zealand is amazing! Since I first laid foot on the land it felt like a place from the tales.. “A land far, far away”

I got an offer in Rotorua at a tourism attraction as a Food & Beverage Attendant for 6 months. My requirement from university is to have 40 weeks of practical training which means that I need approximately another 3 months.

Tracy who is the Human Resources Manager at my work made the offer. She was of great help to me! Tracy met up with me the day after my arrival in Rotorua. She took me for a coffee in town and we discussed all my affairs. After that, Tracy helped me open a New Zealand bank account and arranged some sort of tax number I needed in order to get paid. She even helped me find a suitable accommodation, which was exactly what I was looking for: close to work and close to town with internet access. I am so grateful to Tracy since she was not obligated to do all that for me but she did and made me feel welcome from day one!

Not only Tracy but also everyone at work are very friendly and welcomed me with a smile. In fact, some of those colleagues are now close friends and we hang out together on our days off. I am so lucky to be a part of the team!!

Currently I am 3 month into my placement and I work mainly night shifts in the restaurant. A typical day for me starts about 3 PM and ends depending on how busy it is. The earliest time I have finished is about 10 PM and the latest 3 AM. Work is always fun, my colleagues are really nice and fun to work with and I always enjoy it.

I have applied for cross training and this week I start on a new position as a Customer Service Ambassador. I hope to get some shift at the Luge too. Tracy will try to keep me in the company until July if possible. She said that if there were no chance of me staying in Rotorua, she would try transferring me to Queenstown in South Island. That would be the best opportunity ever having the experience of both islands.

The restaurant I work in is on Ngongotaha Mountain (which is more of a hill) and I get to ride the gondola everyday. The restaurant has a magnificent view of the whole town and the Rotorua Lake and the sight reveals how once upon a time Rotorua was in fact a crater of a volcano!! The town by itself is amazing; it is a hot spot not only for thermal activity but also for tourism.

On my days off, I try to do some tourism related activities if I am not too busy with my course work. As I mentioned earlier I made great friends from work and they take me around the area as tour guides! There is still so much I want to do here, but right now is the busiest period of the year and I try to concentrate on performing my best at work.

I am so happy and so lucky to be here and I owe it all to Intern Options and especially Jon!! Thank you so much for making my dream come true!

I wish everyone best of luck and have an amazing experience in New Zealand as I am!

Best wishes and kind regards,

Polly

If you’re interested in a Tourism Internship in Queenstown, Auckland, Wellington, Rotorua in New Zealand, check out the Tourism Internships page for more information.

Below is some great feedback from Amy, who is currently in Christchurch, New Zealand doing her 12 month hospitality internship.

For my third year Portsmouth University placement, I wanted to do something a bit different and get out of England. I wanted to be in an English speaking country and somehow ended up thinking New Zealand could be the place. I enquired about placements at the end of last year and after what felt like a long wait, I got one year placement in a hotel in Christchurch. I have been here since July so am nearly half way through my placement now.

I started off in Housekeeping for a few weeks to ease me in and to get a feel to the hotel. I then moved on to the Food and Beverage department and have been doing breakfast and some dinner shifts. After a couple of months working at the hotel, I felt at home and very comfortable. All the staff made me feel so welcome which was so important to me.

When I first arrived here, I stayed in a hostel right in the centre of town. Although the hostel was a great way to meet lots of people and was so close to all the attractions and conveniences, it wasn’t the most practical and there was only so long I could live out of a suitcase for! I registered with a flat mate website and moved in with a lovely kiwi couple who have been really helpful to me and I intend to stay with them until my placement comes to an end!

I can say that this journey and experience has already exceeded my expectations and then some. New Zealand is a beautiful and amazing country and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work and live out here and learn more about the culture of New Zealand.

I was also lucky enough to have a visit from parents and we are going to be spending Christmas in Christchurch which will be a great experience. One of the trips I did was to Queenstown with my parents and I did the Canyon Swig which was great, you can see the picture of me being pushed off.

I’ve now caught the travel bug and have made plans to visit Australia for 7 weeks after I have finished my contract. It’s just a matter of saving up the money!

If you’re interested in a Hospitality Internship like Amy’s in Christchurch, Queenstown, Auckland, Wellington, Rotorua in New Zealand, check out the Hospitality Internships page for more information.