Week I: Introduction to Sorrento
This week was all about getting familiar. I did not get to work on much this week, although it has been busy. I arrived on Sunday afternoon, orientation followed on Monday morning, and classes began on Tuesday. Wednesday, I got my first introduction to Vervece Charter. We took the train to Massa Lubrense, where the office is located, and met briefly with the owner of the company. We exchanged names, and some brief expectations regarding the schedule before departing.
On Thursday I had a remote shift where my objective was to research the company. I have established an overview of the company which includes their history, clientele/target market, key differentiators, their booking practices, and the extent of their presence on social media. This work has given me a healthy foundation to work from as it serves as a reference to guide my future projects with the company.
Week II: First Week at Work
This week was a more productive week. I got my first assignment upon my arrival to the office on Friday which was to find and compile a database of US travel agencies that offer travel packages to clients for Italy that include housing (and better yet include boat tours). I started by googling travel agencies and combing their services for packages that included both, and treated each package as its own datapoint, which helps to identify which companies favor this combo. To establish relevancy, for each data point I also added the departure, and destination, for their current boating service or the town in which the clients would stay if no boating service was in the package. Another relevant piece of information I included with each data point is whether the package had a private or public boat tour, of which Vervece offers both, and helps to establish what the travel agency is looking for in a service. These are the most important pieces of information I included in each data point. Over the course of the day I managed to compile about 50 data points that are all relevant to Vervece as prospective packages in which their service could be included.
Week III: On the Boat
I had my introduction to the actual service this week. I spent a day on the boat, attending their public charter service for Amalfi and Positano. As such I got the complete picture of Vervece’s service and how they conduct their daily operations. On the boat I also got to interact with the clients, assess their thoughts on the service, and aid the staff in boarding and disembarking. I was most impressed with how impactful having a dedicated captain and steward was. Having a steward attend to the clients with information, interaction, drinks, and snacks was a massive addition to the experience.
Week IV: Starting my Project
My first shift this week was spent writing a report on Vervece’s service that I attended last week. My report included a comprehensive overview of the entire service from pickup to docking, analyzing the key points of service that Vervece massively benefits from and parts of the service that could use some improvement. Due to weather, my Friday shift was not spent on the boat, but in the office. I finally received my project from the company which I began today. It involves creating a database of potential partners that Vervece can approach with their service, and the second part which is creating the outreach material (introduction letter, deck about the company/services, ect.) that can be used when reaching out to potential partners. On Friday I was able to expand upon the already existing database I had of American travel agencies, with British and other foreign agencies, along with creating the first couple drafts of an introductory letter.
Week V: A Full Week
This week I was split between the office and the boat. On Monday I was in the office where I continued working on my project. I compiled more companies into the database and did some vetting on ones already on the list to ensure viability.
Friday was spent on the boat, and this trip was to Capri. This service was just as fantastic as the Amalfi and Positano cruise, nothing new to add here. I was able to collect some new content on this trip as well.
Week VI: Finished with my First Project
This week, I wrapped up my business development project at Vervece Charter by turning my research into a complete outreach package.
I finalized a database of 79 prospective partners: 60 travel agencies, tour operators, destination management companies and wedding planners, along with 19 hotels and boutique properties across the Sorrento Peninsula, the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Naples whose concierge teams could recommend Vervece to their guests. I ranked every one as High, Medium or Low priority, weighing factors such as presence on the Amalfi Coast, appeal to international travelers, the quality of contact information and whether they already offer boat experiences. From that ranking, I selected the 25 strongest companies for first contact.
To support the outreach, I finalized a partnership introduction letter that can be tailored to each type of recipient. I also wrote a contact strategy covering the order of outreach, the timing, and the emails to use, from the first introduction through follow-up and closing messages.
Seeing the project through from research to a ready-to-send plan taught me how to evaluate and prioritize potential partners, and how much care goes into a professional first impression.