Abercrombie & Kent Europe

Placement organization

Name of organization: Abercrombie & Kent Europe
Town/city: Cheltenham
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: http://www.abercrombiekent.co.uk

Student

Name of student: Sina Kirchner

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Luxury tour operator
Organization’s activities: Selling luxury holiday tours
Target group of the organization: People with higher income
Company culture: Everyone is very nice
Number of employees: around 40 to 50
Dress code: smart but casual (NO blue jeans from Monday to Friday)
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? A&K Europe consists of Purchasing, FIT Individual and Group Department, Marketing Department, Human Resources, Finance and IT. Also in the same office: A&K Villas + A&K Travel
I worked as operations assistant in the FIT department.

Brief description of your daily activities: – Researching/ investigating travel itineraries
– Requesting/ gathering prices from our suppliers/ hotels using travel studio
– Confirming and reconfirming requested suppliers/hotels using travel studio
– Chasing replies from suppliers/hotels when necessary
– Dealing with suppliers/hotels confidently on the phone
– Supporting all members of the team with special projects when necessary
– Preparation of travel documentation and final checklists
– Ensuring the Emergency ‘Bible’ contains all necessary information on all tours for the person on call
– The collation and processing of guest questionnaires and guides reports
– General office duties such as answering telephone, maintaining Library etc.
Brief description of your company assignment: Product development: A&K Europe does not have knowledge on the French holiday island Corsica yet and therefore I have to research attractions as well as possible suppliers and accommodation in order for A&K to be able to offer Corsica as a destination to their clients in the future.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: All employees are very nice and helpful so I have good supervision

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, able to take initiative, communication skills, confidence in talking on the phone, flexible, teamplayer
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel, Word, Outlook, Travel Studio (will receive an in house training in first week of placement)
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French: Intermediate
German: Mother tongue
Italian:
Other languages: Any other language is of great advantage as you have to communicate with suppliers all over Europe

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane (Berlin-Bristol) + train (Bristol-Cheltenham)

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The company provided a list of landlords that I contacted.
How did you go to work every day? Walking (10 minutes)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
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?
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? .

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 120,00 (Easyjet, return ticket with 20 kg luggage)
Accommodation (monthly): € GBP 349,=
Local transport (monthly): € 0,=
General costs of living (monthly): € GBP 300,= (of course depending on travel and leisure activities)
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? GBP 25,= per day.

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 I do not think so.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 092105@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: – Outside the organization:
Make the most of your weekends, as during the week there is only a little leisure time!
– Inside the organization:
Only wear blue jeans on Fridays as on all other days you should be dressed more formal when going to work.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Cheltenham is a nice place to stay for a couple of months. There are many possibilities in how to spend your free time here. There are several parks to go to when the sun is shining, a cinema, many shops, a library, leisure and sporting facilities, a swimming pool and a couple of good restaurants, bars and clubs to go to at night. For people that would also like to get out of the city, there is Cleeve Hill and I can only recommend to climb up there on a sunny day and to have a picnic and enjoy the beautiful view over Cheltenham and its surroundings. Of course there are also many possibilities to travel. Buses and trains run regularly from here to all bigger cities in England and to Cardiff and therefore Cheltenham is a good starting point for daytrips to e.g. Bristol, Bath, Stonehenge, Oxford, Gloucester, Cardiff or weekend trips to London, Brighton, Portsmouth, Torquay and many other cities.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link