Abercrombie & Kent

Placement organization

Name of organization: Abercrombie & Kent
Town/city: Melbourne
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.abercrombiekent.com.au

Name of student: Jeannot de Rijke

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Travel Agency
Organization’s activities: Tour operator that focuses on luxury travel, customized holidays offering journeys to each continent, covering many destinations worldwide. A&K has over 50 offices worldwide, 51 DMCs and three main offices consisting of DMC & SMC; UK, USA and Australia.
Target group of the organization: High average age & income
Company culture: There is a clear hierarchy within the organization, however the communication between colleagues is informal. Colleagues are always in for a talk and are interested in each other. The external communication is formal.
Number of employees: 70
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing & Product
Brief description of your daily activities: – To template formulation and amendments for E-newsletters and the creation of the newsletter like the content, images, links, button, support, material, tracking, testing and reporting.
– Web loading activities thinking of itineraries, news sections and articles.
– Social Media by scheduling & posting content.
– Researches about: Travel Influences and interesting articles.
– Print, assist and distribute flyers or brochures.
– Photoshop Images.

Brief description of your company assignment: To create a loyalty program for ‘My A&K portal’ by focusing on benefits clients receive when they book a journey.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My company supervisor from A&K was Krizia Fiora, who is Sales & Marketing Co-Ordinator. She is very kind and gave me a wide variety in tasks. I learnt a lot and got help whenever needed. Furthermore, I worked with Mason Crozier; Marketing Co-Ordinator and Anthony O’Shea; Head of Marketing, both are very kind and helpful. Lastly, to take own initiatives will bring you far as I got invited to many meetings and two events in Melbourne & Sydney.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, Flexible, Stress-Proof, Sociable, Representable and Teamplayer.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office and Photoshop
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Plane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Airbnb & Hostel
How did you go to work every day? By Tram

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, a holiday visa (417) you can find this visa on the Australian Government website: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/417-
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 2 Hours
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 need to take a language course

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200
Accommodation (monthly): € 800
Local transport (monthly): € 5 a day
General costs of living (monthly): € 300-400
Costs of visa: € 320
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? $1020 AUD per month, because you will have to pay taxes ($180 AUD per month)

You can collect these taxes back in The Netherlands.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare, as the Australian Culture is similar to the Dutch culture. The Australians are more relaxed and friendly.
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: 153353@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: There is a lot of sightseeing to do in Melbourne.

– Look up the nice coffee places and nice spots where you can eat, I personally loved Chinatown
– Attend a Concert, the AU Open, a Festival or Theaters

Start planning from the beginning to make sure you will experience an unforgettable adventure.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Melbourne is amazing and try to do some trips, as well to visit other places in Australia. For example I went to Byron Bay and Sydney, which I both loved.

The 20 weeks will go very fast, so make sure to enjoy every weekend in Melbourne and its surroundings!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link