Diethelm Travel Malaysia

Placement organization

Name of organization: Diethelm Travel Malaysia
Town/city: Kuala Lumpur
Country: Maleisië
Website: http://www.diethelmtravel.com

Student

Name of student: Roel Berkeveld

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Incoming tour operator
Organization’s activities: Tour operating
Target group of the organization: Inbound tourists (especially Europe)
Company culture: Employees are working independent. Colleagues are kind and helpful. Management is working in own offices but it’s free to walk in.
Number of employees: 50 – 60
Dress code: casual / formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Inbound (Operations, Reservations, Sales), Accounting, Ticketing, MICE.
I worked in Operations, Reservations, Sales
Brief description of your daily activities: Operations: making courtesy calls, arranging transfers / vehicles
Reservations: making hotel/transfer bookings, calling hotels for availability, preparing arrival reports etc.
Sales: preparing travel proposals, making promotion offers, creating itineraries etc.

Brief description of your company assignment: Product research (Profit & Loss)
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: General manager is supervising you, besides the different departments have their managers who are supervising you as well.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Able to work independent, but as a teamplayer as well. Sociable to clients and colleagues and have some flexibility.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Words/Open office, Excel, Internet, Outlook. Nothing special except reservation system called TOPAX, about which they will learn you.
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German: Useful, but not needed
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? By myself, with help of the previous intern.
How did you go to work every day? Monorail

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, but company will provide
Do you need a work permit? Yes, but company will provide
How did you arrange the necessary documents: The company arranged this. I received my visa/work permit after I worked in the company for a couple of weeks.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes, Hepatitis A/B, DTP, about 3 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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 800,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 230,00 (MYR 850/900, depends on electricity, water, etc.)
Local transport (monthly): € 10,00 – 15,00 (MYR 50,00)
General costs of living (monthly): € 100,00 (MYR 400,00)
Costs of visa: € Paid by company
Costs of work permit: € Paid by company
What did the company pay for/to you? MYR 500,-/ €125,- per month
MYR 450,-/ €112,50,- per month
Total: MYR 950,-

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No, the differences in culture and people will give you experience to handle and communicate with them.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: roelberkeveld@live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Take initiative and talk to colleagues during your internship at the company. When you are free: go on trips and enjoy the beautiful country.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is a lot to do in Kuala Lumpur like sightseeing, shopping and nightlife. Besides KL, you can make trips to jungles and islands.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link