Tourism KwaZulu-Natal

Placement organization

Name of organization: Tourism KwaZulu-Natal
Town/city: Durban
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://www.zulu.org.za

Student

Name of student: Barbara Bihari

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Provincial tourism authority
Organization’s activities: TKZN is responsible for the development, promotion and marketing of tourism into and within the province
Target group of the organization: –
Company culture: The work environment is nice and friendly. People call each other by first names and everyone has a good word to another.
Number of employees: approx. 80 – 90
Dress code: formal, casual on Fridays
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? 5 departments, student works in Tourism information Services
Brief description of your daily activities: As an intern in the TIS department, the student has to update the annual Visitor Book Report. This comes with lot of database related activities, calling participants and writing the report. Sometimes help with media clipping.
Moreover fieldwork on different events across the province.

Brief description of your company assignment: Full responsibility for the Visitor Book Report. Updating the charts and tables and the text of the book. Research for new data.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor was always kind and helpful. She is busy but if she is in the office, usually she does not mind to just walk in and ask. Other times, when she was out of office I could reach her on e-mail and in few days we arranged an appointment. She also checked on me every now and then if everything is okay. Other colleagues also helped if they had the knowledge in the topic.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Working alone, sociable, easy to adapt to a new culture.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Access( at least a minimum knowledge, otherwise you have to figure out most of the things alone, but managable)
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? I asked the previous intern, because I needed proper papers for my visa. And my supervisor also recommended my landlord in her first e-mail. But www.gumtree.co.za is a widely used tool in South Africa.
How did you go to work every day? Bus, mini bus taxi

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes
Do you need a work permit? No, just student permit
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Via the SA embassy in Hungary.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Said to be ready in 5-10 working days, but it took more and also to arrange the other documents needed for visa application. In total around 1 month.
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes

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): € 760,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 255,00
Local transport (monthly): € 25,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 350,00
How long in advance did you apply for visa Don’t know. I had them already because of the fieldtrip in 2nd year
Costs of visa: € 40,00
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? ZAR 1800,00 (approx EUR 150,00), meals, transport and accommodation only on events and fieldwork

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? The African time is a true phenomenon. I think my work was more relaxed than what I am used to in the Netherlands. On the other hand, sometimes people I had to call seemed like unorganized.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 113833@nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Interact with colleagues. Can tell a lot about the Zulu culture.

Be careful and use common sense.

The local couch surfing community can help at the beginning to find your place.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is a full range of sport facilities in Durban. Also many places to socialize.
There is lot to do in the province and beautiful places to see. Game and nature reserves are really close to the city.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link