Ecotourism Australia

Placement organization

Name of organization: Ecotourism Australia
Town/city: Brisbane
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.ecotourism.org.au/

Student

Name of student: Flore Vesseur

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Eco certification
Organization’s activities: EA’s main product is their ECO certification programs, and their ROC and Climate Action certification programs. By being certified by EA operators have access to a wide range of benefits that also take up the time of the EA employees. Furthermore EA is continuously working on expanding its’ network and looking for new opportunities.
Target group of the organization: Tourism Supply Side
Company culture: The hierarchy in EA is relatively informal. The CEO and Operations Manager are the ones who have final say about things, but they almost always ask for the rest of the office’s opinion. We enjoy talking together, and always have music on. We usually discuss the work we do with one another to be able to reach the optimum result.
Number of employees: 4
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? At the start of my internship the Program Administrator of EA went on personal leave, so I have been taking over her tasks during my work here. There is no specific department I am working in, stepping in where needed.
Brief description of your daily activities: Social media (Instagram and Facebook), program administration duties, renewal duties, answering queries from applicants and those interested in applying, helping members with questions, website updating, writing articles, updating EA documents, administrational tasks such as answering the phone and replying to emails.
Brief description of your company assignment: Quality survey amongst EA operators, to find out what they value in their certification and what they are missing.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Supervision with EA is wonderful. There is always something to do, which I appreciate very much and they are happy to answer any questions I may have. They also provide me with feedback when required. What I appreciate most of all is the amount of responsibility and trust they have given me, because that has caused me to trust that I am capable of working in a professional environment and not doubt what I’m doing.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, sociable, flexible, performable, independent, takes initiative and knows how to plan
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills, photoshop, HTML,
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself
How did you go to work every day? by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Working Holiday
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Online governmental agency Australia
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1 hour
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long 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

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 850 (but I had a sale price)
Accommodation (monthly): € 420
Local transport (monthly): € 40
General costs of living (monthly): € 160
Costs of visa: € Approx. 350
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing, EA is a not for profit organization

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? No

Future students on placement

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

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: –
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Brisbane has a lot surrounding, Mt Cootha and Mt Tamborine for hiking, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast for the Beach. Byron Bay just two hours away for surfing. Fraser Island and Noosa just 3/4 hours.

Brisbane has a great city centre where you can do some really good shopping and South Bank is amazing, spending Sundays there with live music is definitely a must.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link