Practical Training 1 at Visit Jyväskylä Region

Hii to everyone! I am Daria Lomova, a second-year Tourism Management student. I completed my first practical training at Visit Jyväskylä Region from October 2021 to February 2022. Here I would like to share my experiences.

Visit Jyväskylä Region is the official DMO in Jyväskylä Region, Lakeland Finland. The main activity of the organization is to promote Jyväskylä and its neighbor municipalities as a tourism destination for domestic and international customers. In my case, I was working for the Russian market.

I chose Visit Jyväskylä Region for my first practical training because I wanted to get some experience in the marketing field, and I also heard positive feedback from my friends who have completed their internship there. As it turned out, it was an amazing experience and a good start for my professional career.

My main task was to regularly update the Visit Jyväskylä Region page on Russian social media called VKontakte. I had to find topics and photos for publications, plan, write and publish posts. I liked this activity a lot as it made me learn more interesting and useful information about the city. Apart from that, I was ready for all the tasks that the management asked me to do, like editing photos or helping with translation.

Further, there were several interesting small projects during my internship. For example, I was asked to write an article about Aito Cheddar vintage by local producer Jukolan Juusto after it won a silver reward in its category at the World Cheese Awards 2021 in Oviedo, Spain. In order to do this, I interviewed a cheese dairy worker from the marketing department. Moreover, before the Runeberg Day, I went to Tikkakoski to interview a café owner and take pictures of the bakery and surroundings. The interview was based on her story of moving to Finland and Finnish traditions for celebrations.

The atmosphere at the workplace was very friendly and cozy. My colleagues and my tutor were very supportive and caring. I felt that I belong to the team and contribute to the Jyväskylä Region’s development. I improved my Finnish language, time management, creative, analytical, and marketing management skills. I was given freedom in managing VK and it was a safe environment to practice.

I can warmly recommend Visit Jyväskylä Region for all students who are interested in marketing and love Jyväskylä. It will be a good experience that you will remember?

Written by Daria Lomova

Bachelor’s Degree programme in Tourism Management