Tailor Made Safaris

Placement organization

Name of organization: Tailor Made Safaris
Town/city: St Lucia
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://www.tailormadesafaris.co.za

Name of student: Margo Koot

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: tour operator
Organization’s activities: – Communication with clients
– Sending out quotations to the guests and taking care of the booking
– Creating individual tours with route descriptions
– “Meet and greet” with clients who visit St Lucia
– Communicating and creating contracts with guesthouses and other organizations
– Translation assignments
Target group of the organization: Middle and high class market
Company culture: It is an informal company. You can ask everyone your questions, but mostly you ask the questions to the colleague who's client it is.
Number of employees: 8
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Social Media department

Brief description of your daily activities: – Translation assignments
– Updating Social Media pages of the company
– Communicating with guesthouses and other organizations
– Making quotations and cost calculators for clients
Brief description of your company assignment: I have to research the Social Media pages of the company. The main question of my research is: How can Tailor Made Safaris use Social Media in an effective way to attract new clients?
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision of the company is quite good. Every month you get a performance meeting where the performance of you during the month will be discussed.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? team player, flexible, sociable, stress-proof, independent
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, Photoshop, good writing skills
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Advanced
Italian:
Other languages: Dutch: Mothertongue

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? You sleep in the office
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, Exchange visa
Do you need a work permit? –
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 3 months
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? Not, I had them from previous holidays

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? –

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 700
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 100 (for a rental car)
General costs of living (monthly): € 140
Costs of visa: € 35
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I read about the culture of South Africa in different books, on the Internet and I heard stories of the people who've been in the country for holidays.
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: 141540@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: – Go on safaris in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and Eastern and Western Shores
– Visit Kruger and the Panorama Route (especially the Panorama Route was amazing!!!!!)
– Do the croc and hippo cruise in St Lucia (it is very relaxing 😉 )
– Go out in St Lucia and meet new people! They are awesome!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: – Croc and Hippo cruise
– Whale watching (seasonal from June until November)
– Day trips to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi
– Shopping in Durban and Richards Bay
– Snorkeling in Cape Vidal
– Go on safari in Eastern and Western Shores

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link