Groovy Grape Getaways

Placement organization

Name of organization: Groovy Grape Getaways
Town/city: Adelaide
Country: Australië

Student

Name of student: Nathalie Beersma
Website: http://www.groovygrape.com.au
Name of student: Nathalie Beersma
Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Groovy Grape Getaways provides interactive tours to the Barossa Valley (1 day), Kangaroo Island (2 days), Great Ocean Road (vice versa, 3 days), Coober Pedy (4 days, return) and Alice Springs (6 days vice versa and 7 days). The tours embrace the indigenous cultures of the diverse destinations, with local authentic experiences in a fun, informative, adventurous style.
Target group of the organization: Backpackers
Company culture: My place in the company as a student intern was a full-value collegue. I was part of the Groovy Grape family, as they call it. I get tasks from all the mentioned managers (and other employees). They treated me like everybody else. The communication with the colleagues and the management in the office is very informal
Number of employees: 5 office employees and approximately 15 – 20 tour guides
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Groovy Grape Getaways consists of the departments accounts, marketing, reservations and operations. Above these departments you have the general manager. I mainly worked in reservations, but I got tasks from accounts, marketing and operations as well.
Brief description of your daily activities: – Taking bookings from travel agents and direct from customers (phone and e-mail)
– Taking care of the tour paperwork (manifest with all the passengers, tour-expenses forms, etc.), preparing the driver packs
– Updating the online tour availability/booking system and the monthly occupancy Excel-document
– Organizing and sending out brochures to travel agents
– Sending out wine to travel agents who booked a (sparkling) grape escape or (sparkling) trilogy package
– Calling hostels, accommodation providers and Sealink (ferry to Kangaroo Island) to book passengers in
– Accounts: checking expenses and putting the data on the forms in Excel-documents
– Marketing: writing a blog for our customers
1 day per week I had to clean the returned buses and other material (swags, eski’s, etc.).
Brief description of your company assignment: A destination analysis of the states South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the part of Northern Territory south of Alice Springs and a competitor analysis. With the results (the gaps in the market) I wrote a concept for a new tour for Groovy Grape Getaways.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Bruce, the operations manager, is the supervisor the interns. But (because of the small size of the company) everybody is very willing to assist you and to answer your questions. They give good feedback.
Connection with study program: Relevant

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, flexible, enthusiastic, team player and initiative.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, internet (and maybe Outlook and Access)
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Every language you speak could be useful, because you deal with customers from all over the world.

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I got my room via www.easyroommate.com.
How did you go to work every day? by bicycle

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes. A working holiday visa subclass 417 (for
Dutch people).
Do you need a work permit? No. This is included in the visa.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Via http://www.immi.gov.au.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? It takes one day before the visa is granted.
Did you need certain vaccinations? No

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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1425,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 500,00
Local transport (monthly): € Only a few day tickets of EUR 7,00 to visit some places around Adelaide.
General costs of living (monthly): € 200,00. Australia is more expensive than Holland
Costs of visa: 230,00
Costs of work permit: € Included in visa
What did the company pay for/to you? € AUD 500,00 per month.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture? I didn’t
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? It is a western country as well. The culture is similar to the Dutch culture, but they are much more relaxed.

Future students on placement

My telephone number: 06-18985127
My e-mail address: nath26@hetnet.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Take initiative, be yourself and if you don’t know what to do: ask for tasks!
You will definitely be captivated by the layback and groovy culture! Enjoy this! Relaxed atmospheres will improve your internship and the process of your reports!

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Make sure you go on many Groovy Grape tours. It is free!
– Dolphin swim with Temptation Sailing (Glenelg)
– Cleland Wildlife Park
– Semaphore and Port Adelaide (dolphin cruise, Maritime Museum, Red Lighthouse, Pancakes at the Port)
– Cycling along the Torrens River to Henley Beach
– Haigh’s Chocolate Factory
– South Australian Museum, Migration Museum
– Botanic Gardens
– Churches

Media

Youtube linkYoutube video internship