the hotel factory continues growing, not only in new and interesting projects, but also in regards to its team. We always have candidates who come to our company to do internships relating to their degree of studies or university master thanks to the various university agreements that we have signed with universities throughout the Spanish territory as well as internationally.

Therefore, as we usually do, we have asked the people who are doing their internships with us to tell us something more about themselves, their studies and their experience with us. 

Today we introduce to you Marta Alonso Rodríguez; recently graduated in the Administration and Finance Degree of the University of the Balearic Islands and that she just started his internship with us.

THF: Tell us a little bit more about yourself. Where are you from? What are you studying?

I’m from Palma de Mallorca though my family is a bit all over the place, being my father from Galicia and my mother from Zaragoza. Regarding my studies, I studied Business Administration in the University of the Balearic Islands, a period during which I also got an Erasmus Scholarship to study in Sweden for a year. 

THF: Why did you decide to study this? ¿How do you feel about today’s’ tourism?

I always kind of knew that I wanted to do something related to Economics and at the same time that it gave me the opportunity to open a path into a more international sector. At the time, I believed that Business Administration met these requirements and that in turn it allowed me to enter the relevant tourism sector, of great importance in the Balearic Islands.

Nowadays, I believe that national tourism is at a delicate moment in a sense that the number of tourists and in consequence, the occupancy rate, have decreased compared to last year. However, although hoteliers might be suffering from this downfall, they are compensating this setback improving the offer. The tourism sector sees market segmentation as a new path to enhance the guest experience. At the end, it would be something like quantity versus quality, while before the first was the main goal, now the later has gained importance being loyalty between the guest and the hotel the overall objective.

THF: How did you come to know about the hotel factory? What caught your attention?

I learnt about the company through my university’s job bank. 

What caught my attention was that I found it weird how being these islands some of the main tourist destinations of greater relevance, nationally and internationally, you can not find many companies offering services such as the ones offered by The Hotel Factory. Later on, after reading some of the successful cases in which the company had worked on and the amount of learning and dynamism that I could gain from joining the team, was what drove to apply. Unlike working for some hotel chain or even a boutique hotel, here you have the opportunity to learn from both worlds at the same time, that and taking into account that the company also works in a national and international level, the experience could not be more fulfilling.

 THF: What was your impression when you met us for the first time during the interview?

Off the bat I thought that this was dynamic company with a young team that looks for people with potential and who wants to make the most of themselves. The tests they make you go through the first interview are at odds with the requirements of the position, so that the company is transparent with you form the beginning, stating what do they want and expect from you. Although this might come  as a surprise to some, it is a valuable trait that any company should have as some “sell” tasks or expectations that might never be met. From the first meeting, sincerity and frankness characterize the process. 

THF: Now that you have seen first hand the kind of work that we do here, is it what you expected of a hotel consultant?

Considering everything, I can say that I have discovered that there is more than meets the eye when you talk about a consultancy company. At first I think everyone believes that working in consultancy requires travelling a lot which obviously is attractive to any outsider. The truth is however, that you although you need a wide market understanding and knowledge, which obviously might require visiting other places,  it is also a job that requires a high level of commitment and standards. The competitors are tough and you could also say that everything appears to be invented already, being an innovator is way more complicated than before. 

Therefore, I can say that the experience so far has been beyond my expectations. In a positive way, obviously.  

THF: What do you like the most about this job?

This might be a difficult question to answer considering that I have only been at this job for a month. However, the dynamism that involves this job has been the greatest thing so far. There is not an equal project, each of them has its intricacies, so that a conceptualization project for example always surpases the one done previously. It is sort of like a wheel, as it proceeds along the way, the gained experience can be applied to the current project in which you are working on, improving the final result. It is a learning process that I value enormously.  

THF: What type of projects have you worked on during your months with us? Do find them interesting?

Lately I have been working in a conceptualization project for a hotel chain whose idea might be a breakthrough concept as it has not been yet developed in a national context. It’s been really entertaining so far and the project final result will be outstanding (or so I hope). 

THF: What you would say to all the students who want to work as an intern? What reasons would you give for them to choose the hotel factory?

I would probably tell them that if given the chance, to not be thrown back because of the fact that it is an internship, if it is worth it and it means a possibility for self-development in a personal and professional level, any experience becomes valid. 

The reason to apply to The hotel factory might be many, but essentially, it all comes to the fact that if your are looking for a learning experience, working in an ever changing sector, a breaking with the monotony that characterizes almost every job position, this is place.   

If you’d like to know more about her and the rest of the team at the hotel factory do not hesitate to check our team tab on our website or look for us on LinkedIn, where you can also find the latest updates about us and the hotel sector.