Springbok Atlas Tours & Safaris

Placement organization

Name of organization: Springbok Atlas Tours & Safaris
Town/city: Cape Town
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://springbokatlas.com/

Name of student: Myrthe Kolsteren

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: Composing journeys at the request of overseas tour operators.
Target group of the organization: European, American and Australian market
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 50+
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? The European Department (as a tour consultant)
Brief description of your daily activities: Quotations
• Accurate program design and quoting of request as per client briefing / request.
• Apply financial control on each quotation, as follows: Weekly Financial reporting, Negotiate
rates.

Tour Designing
• Create itinerary and ensure distances to be traveled per day are viable.
• Identify client requirements i.e. budget and inclusions and client’s specific wishes
• Keep up to date with any new properties/services on the market so that these can be
included in the proposal and the agent can see that we are ‘up to date’ and pro-active.

Managing Touring Files
• Booking of services
• Issue vouchers to suppliers as per individual supplier requirements.

Brief description of your company assignment: I am busy working on my sustainability report for Srpingbok Atlas.
It consists of a short description of the current state of affairs when it becomes to sustainability, an interview and recommendations.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I am glad with my supervisor, however it can always go better because she is a very busy woman. But if I have questions I can always ask.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, sociable, stress-proof
Additional company requirements for this placement? –
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Basic
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Company (4 exchange)
How did you go to work every day? by foot and by car

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, a study visa
Do you need a work permit? No, you don’t
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 3 weeks, but that is to short. It takes a lot of time and stress!
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? Long before ( it was for another journey )

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No, intermediate english is already enough

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 672,00 euro return ticket
Accommodation (monthly): € 255,00 euro monthly
Local transport (monthly): € 140,00 euro (car)
General costs of living (monthly): € 210,00 euro
Costs of visa: € +/- 100,00 euro
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation: +/- 85,00 euro

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I have read a lot about South Africa, in particular Cape Town, on the internet and rented some books.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: myrthe_kolsteren@live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: WHAT TO DO:

– If you are going to South Africa, please start on time with sorting out your visa. It will save you a lot of
trouble and stress.

– If you have struggles with arringing the internship at the destination where you would like to go to, don’t give up! It took me months, but now I am very glad I continued.

– Make sure that the company where you will fulfill your internship at fits you. Five months will become very long if you don’t like your work.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: – Table mountain
– Lions head
– Several museums
– Shoppingcentres
– Garden Route
– Cage Diving
– Paragliding and Skydiving
– Townshiptours
– Sandboarding
– Robben Island
– Boulders Beach
– Surfing
– Several beaches
– Safaris

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link