Internship At La Vacanza Travel: An Opportunity To Explore Travel Industry
Hello Everyone!! I am Abhilasha Chaurasia born and raised in Varanasi one of the oldest cities in India. I am pursuing my final year in Masters in Tourism Administration (M.T.A) from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Varanasi, No. 1 Central University of India.
Internship At La Vacanza Travel: An Opportunity To Explore Travel Industry
I completed my graduation from Shri Agrasen Kanya P.G College from B.com (Hons.) and completed my 10+2 from Happy Model School, Varanasi.
I have a beautiful family of six including me. My father was a Businessman. Now he is no more and my mother is a Homemaker. I have three younger brothers.
Something About My City Varanasi
- Varanasi also is known as Banaras and Kashi is situated on the bank of the holiest river of India “Ganges”. Varanasi is “Shiva Ki Nagri”, the city of Lord Shiva, Temples, Ghats & Streets (Galiyan) and is one of the oldest cities in the world.
- Varanasi is also known as “the religious capital of India” and “the city of Learning”. The city has been a cultural and religious center in India for several years.
- Indian classical music is given by “Banaras Gharana” which produced many prominent poets, writers, and musicians from this holy city of India.
- Kashi is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in India.
Varanasi is also home to famous universities like
- Banaras Hindu University (BHU)
- Sampuranand Sanskrit
- Kashi Vidhyapeeth
Peoples refers to Banaras as the “the city of Learning” and among the best cities for education and spirituality.
“Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together”
- Mark Twain
- Varanasi has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for the HRIDAY- Heritage City Development And Augmentation Yojana scheme by the 'Government of India'.
Why I Choose Tourism As My Career?
- I have always been interested in exploring my career opportunities in the tourism industry.
- I love to travel to various places and know about their culture and history behind that place to expand my knowledge and experience. It’s very exciting for me to know about the places and the mysterious history related to them.
- As we know that Tourism is the fastest growing industry with new destinations opens up for visitors around the world offering a huge variety of employment opportunities for young people.
Masters in Tourism Administration (M.T.A)
In my 3rd semester, there is one paper related to Training Report which includes training in a travel company, making the report and presenting it according to our experience and viva.
This is the opportunity to work in an actual tourism world. Far away from theories, we face the practicalities of the tourism industry. I was selected to do a summer internship in an Outbound Holiday and MICE company named La Vacanza Travel Private Limited, headquartered in New Delhi.
The company ( La Vacanza Travel ) basically deals with Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Groups Holiday Tours, and Customized Family Holiday Packages, Honeymoon packages, FITs and caters to daily requirements of Sightseeing & Activities, Holiday Packages, Hotel requirements for a large base of Travel Agencies In North and East India ( B2B ).
It is mainly is known for providing high-quality tourism and travel services.
Its was the first time that I left my home and stay at another city without my family for 45 days in Delhi and really it was very tough for me to live without my family and I was so anxious how I could manage all the things, but all things were managed automatically step by step.
The experienced and dedicated staff, friendly and formal environment, helpful supervisor and seniors made me feel comfortable and taught me each and every work with patience.
They had their own work throughout the office hours, yet they made time to teach me and assist me in assignments given to me.
Thanks to Dr. P.J. Shyju Sir and Dr. P.S. Rana Sir (My college Professors) has given chance to their students to be trained in the professional world.
1) Building Relationship with B2B Network :
I was there mainly in sales. I worked and learned most of the time in Sales. It was a very challenging job. I specifically did calling the agencies. The travel agents were mostly from Kolkata, Guwahati, and Rajasthan. After talking to them on a regular basis I came to know that it increases my communication skills and increases my confidence level.
I learned how to generate a query and build good relations with agents. I was able to gain trust and build good relations with the agents and to know the product and procedure knowledge. In this, my seniors helped me a lot.
2) E-Mail Marketing & Proposals :
In this, I have learned how to write formal and professional emails, make proposals and send them to the agents and clients. My seniors always guided me and provided me all the necessary pieces of information required.
3) Hotel Booking:
I have worked partially in operations too. I basically booked domestic hotels. I listed out few recommended hotels, called there, asked for the rates, negotiate with them, shortlisted among those hotels and booked the best one matching with all the requirements.
In this, I learned to manage negotiation skills, developed the confidence level. My Seniors were always there to help me out throughout the booking process.
4) Handover to Customers:
Handover is the final procedure of handing over all the needed documents to the clients which are very important. These Documents are Air Ticket, Passport, Visa, Itinerary, Transport Vouchers, Hotel Vouchers,
Travel Tips, Insurance, etc. I arranged it in dockets and send them to the clients with travel kits/bags.
5) Destination knowledge:
I have gained knowledge about almost all the tourist destinations in the Far East, which are ‘Amazing Thailand’, ‘Uniquely Singapore’, ‘Malaysia - Truly Asia’, ‘Hong Kong - Asia’s World City’, ‘Macau- The City of Dreams’, China and Middle East, which are ‘Definitely Dubai’, Abu Dhabi, Maldives, and Bali.
I have learned each and every aspect of these destinations such as their capital, most popular cities where tourism occurs, currency rate, their time differences, flights operating direct and connecting, their visa fees, famous hotel names, package cost, sightseeing & Activities, etc.
My Supervisors showed interest in teaching me all these destinations and contributed a lot in my efforts to make me remember about all these destinations.
6) Contributed in Company’s Online efforts :
La Vacanza Travel has a beautiful La Vacanza Travel Blog, it is the only blog in travel trade which is in both Hindi and the English language. I made a list of all the colleges, institutes and universities with tourism courses for La Vacanza Travel is planning to reach out to all students in the Tourism field to create interest in writing about destinations.
Everyone also motivated me to continuously contribute to La Vacanza Travel FACEBOOK page, LinkedIn Page, Google+ Page as well.
La Vacanza Travel is the most social company in India.
On the whole, Internship At La Vacanza Travel was a useful experience. I have gained new knowledge, skill and learn the value of time, values of teamwork and commitment, how to work hard, how to concentrate and focus on goals, and how to balance time and priorities. I got an insight into professional practice.
It also helps me to find what my strengths and weakness are. It helped me to define my skill and knowledge I have to improve in coming time.
After completion of my master's degree, I think that I could start my working career.
However, it would be better if I can present and express myself more confidently.
At last, this internship has given me new insights and motivation to pursue a career in the Tourism Industry. “Individually we are a Drop, but as a team we become Ocean.”- This is the spirit that is carried by the team members of La Vacanza Travel, which makes the company very strong and I feel very fortunate to be a part of this team.
And now I am proudly certified as one of the trainees of this company. I thank each and everyone there for assisting me and making my training successful indeed.
I am going back to my home with lots of practical knowledge, professional attitude, and sweet and unforgettable memories. Thank La Vacanza Travel all for your support. I am going to miss you all.
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