Four Seasons Resort Bali

Placement organization

Name of organization: Four Seasons Resort Bali
Town/city: Bali, Jimbaran
Country: Indonesië
Website: http://www.fourseasons.com/bali

Student

Name of student: Lotte Stevens

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Accommodation
Organization’s activities: Offering 147 luxurious Villa’s in traditional Balinese design
Target group of the organization: High-end travelers, Business travelers (MICE)
Company culture: From day one I was welcomed in the big Four Seasons Bali family.
The atmosphere is rather informal and it is simply a great feeling to arrive at work in the morning when literally everyone greets you with a huge smile and knowing you by your name!

Number of employees: 650
Dress code: uniform
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? The Four Seasons Bali has 2 resorts, namely in Jimbaran and Sayan. As the head offices (Sales & Marketing, Accounting, Reservation) are located in Jimbaran we are responsible for both resorts.

During my 6 month internship I have been working in the Sales department, which closely works together with the Catering and PR department.
Brief description of your daily activities: As mentioned I am working in the sales department, where my main focus lies on the MICE market. I work together with the only group sales manager in the office who focuses on companies based Singapore, Hong Kong and the USA.

To clarify one thing: not one day in the sales department is the same! Thus, to generalize the activities I can say that I am busy with approaching companies (prospecting corporate accounts), following up on e-mails from potential groups, creating bookings in Delphy and sending personalized proposals accordingly, but also making itineraries for groups. Additionally, also lots of administrative work needs to be done.
Brief description of your company assignment: I will do research on the Singaporean market, and how we can attract more groups in low seasons. The FIT market works completely different and has completely different peak seasons than the MICE market. There are several months that are unattractive for corporates to have their incentive trip or meeting trip, and based on this information I will create a new sales plan how to divide the groups more over the month.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I am supervised by the group sales manager.
She did an amazing job by challenging me and giving me more than just an introduction to the sales department. She is an experienced young woman who is great at her work and loves to pass her experience through by being very patient and helpful.

Furthermore, everyone in the office (and outside as well) is very much willing to help and friendly. Like I mentioned earlier: you are a part of the family!

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? To name a few: you need to be a team player, sociable, flexible, stress-proof, representative, adaptable.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, but no worries if you are not a star: after 6 months you are for sure
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: I would recommend to learn some basic Bahasa Indonesia, as it will highly appreciated and it’s a fairly easy language to learn

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? By myself. I arrived on Bali a week before my internship started without having anything booked in advance. In the Netherlands I alread did some research about the area where I wanted to live but further no idea yet. It is very easy to book an accommodation for the first days and from there on find long term accommodation
How did you go to work every day? Motor bike

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, a Social Cultural Visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Before my internship started, I have taken the opportunity to first travel through Java, therefore I would be longer than 6 months in Indonesia. As the Social Cultural Visa is only valid for 6 months I arrived in Jakarta on VOA. You can extend your VOA upto 60 days and then you need to go to leave the country for 1 day (most people go to Singapore) and wait a few hours for your Social Cultural Visa.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? A few months in advance

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, not necessarily

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € I bought a return ticket in advance for 800 Euro
Accommodation (monthly): € +/- 200 Euro, depending on your own preference
Local transport (monthly): € I rent my motor bike for 40 Euro a month
General costs of living (monthly): € +/- 200 Euro
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? 200.000 IDR per month (12 Euro)
Lunch in the employee canteen: you can have 1 meal per day at complimentary basis, depending on your shift that can be breakfast/lunch/dinner

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I have read the Lonely Planet!
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? It is a culture that allows you to be yourself and meanwhile helps you to further develop in the professional field but certainly also personal.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: lotte.stevens@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Just explore Bali the way you want in your own way. There is so much to do, to see and to experience.. and it would be a waste not to take every opportunity to enjoy this!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Bali is the place to be!!! I can’t imagine getting bored here, in fact, 6.5 month is way too short.

For those who would like to party and shopping I would recommend Kuta and Seminyak, (25-40 minutes from Jimbaran) and for those who rather want to enjoy the laid-back surf mentality as well as stunning beaches, the south is highly recommendable.. Think of Padang Padang, Uluwatu.(20-30 minutes from Jimbaran)

When coming to Bali I highly recommend renting a motor bike. The good thing with a motor bike is that you are so much more mobile than being only dependent on taxi’s as the south of Bali is not particularly known for its great walking paths (read: not at all!!!!) .. When(please note that you have to arrange your international driver license at the ANWB for 18 Euro.. Police is constantly on the hunt for foreigners who don’t have their international license, meaning that your scooter will be brought to Denpasar, or pay an amount of money.. It saves a lot of stress)

Besides the diverse Bali, the surrounding islands also have lots of beauty to offer.. Think of e,g, Lembongan and the Gili Islands.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link