Apollo Motorhome Holidays

Placement organization

Name of organization: Apollo Motorhome Holidays
Town/city: Brisbane
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.apollocamper.com/

Name of student: Manon van Erp

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Motorhome/campervan rental company
Organization’s activities: Apollo is one of Australia’s largest and leading recreational vehicle operators. Offering campervans, motorhomes, 4WDs and cars. It is privately owned, headquartered in Brisbane, with operations in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada.
Target group of the organization: Families, retirees and backpackers
Company culture: The company culture is informal and everyone gets along. Within the Sales & Reservations department there is not really a hierarchy. The Reservations manager is always there to help you. The Reservations colleagues are very friendly.
Number of employees: 300
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Sales & Reservations
Brief description of your daily activities: The main tasks for internship students in the Sales & Marketing department include the liaison with customers via email and over the phone, making reservations and learning how to convert inquiries into bookings. Sometimes you get to visit travel agents with the Sales account manager.
Brief description of your company assignment: competitors analysis. Setting up a marketing mix for all 4 Apollo brands and their competitors. I came up with this assignment myself. The organisation/supervisor does not pay attention to this.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Regarding to my assignment there is no supervision by the organization. But when looking at my activities within the Sales & Reservations department the supervision is excellent. My supervisor Jacinta is always there for me to help me, as also my colleagues are.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? teamplayer, sociable, flexible, stress-proof, independent, cheerfull
Additional company requirements for this placement? Outlook, writing skills, oral skills, Vibe
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Internet, previous students
How did you go to work every day? public transport; train

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes; working holiday visa
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? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1500
Accommodation (monthly): € 400
Local transport (monthly): € 70
General costs of living (monthly): € 200
Costs of visa: € 600
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? 150$ per week. Everytime I make a booking I get 10$

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did some research on the internet. But the australian culture is not that different from the Dutch one. The main difference is the fact that everyone is very relaxed and take their time with everyting. This can sometimes be frustrating.
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: manonve9@hotmail.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Take an Apollo campervan/motorhome (free) and experience the beautiful surroundings of Brisbane.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Parklands, Australia Zoo

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link