African Ample Assistance

Placement organization

Name of organization: African Ample Assistance
Town/city: Hout Bay
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website:

Name of student: Rosemarie van der Boon

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: inbound touroperator
Organization’s activities: Inbound touroperator located in Hout Bay, South Africa. The company focuses on B2B. They have a variety of international clients, but 70% of all clients are Dutch. They have also clients in Germany, the UK, Scandinavia and Belgium. At the moment they’re trying to reach new markets such as India, the States and the Spanish speaking countries. They mainly target at family travel and bus tours. They try to distinguish themselves from competition to very good prices and personal attention.
Target group of the organization: family travel
Company culture: The owners of the company are Dutch, they both studied at NHTV Breda. Even tough the company is getting bigger and bigger, they still want to maintain the ‘small family’ business atmosphere, so there is still a very personal and informal atmosphere. Every Friday afternoon they have drinks together and each year they have a ‘end of year’ trip to bond and to do some team building. The company has a flat organisation structure.
Number of employees: 30-35
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing & Sales
Brief description of your daily activities: Daily social media update (Facebook and Twitter). Translations from English-Dutch or Dutch-English. I worked on the newsletter they sent to clients/potential clients and other ad hoc marketing activities.
Brief description of your company assignment: Market research to the Spain and South America. I researched which countries are most interesting regarding business potential to AAA Travel.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor Ingrid Burgers- van Pinxteren helped me a lot. Every week we had a meeting about my assignment where she would see my work progress and give me advise. I really appreciated that she took the effort and time to help me and if I had any questions I was always welcome to ask her at any time. She expects you to have an pro active attitude and to take you’re tasks seriously but she’s fair and will have your back.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, flexible, team player, stress-proof, organised and eager to learn
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, Facebook, Twitter, Mailchimp
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: German, French is a pre

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The company offered me a apartment just above the office
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Exchange permit
Do you need a work permit? yes it’s a work exchange
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy, AAA Travel, your own GP and you’re insurance
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? More than 2 months
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? The vaccinations depends per person

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): € 1000
Accommodation (monthly): € 140
Local transport (monthly): € 10
General costs of living (monthly): € 350
Costs of visa: € 50 for the actual visa + deposit of 750
Costs of work permit: € 50
What did the company pay for/to you? The company offered me an apartment above the office for a very good price (1600 rand = 120 euros) the electricity is not included in the apartment, that will cost you 40 euros per month and there is no WiFi, which is another 30 euros on a monthly basis.
They also offered me a discount with bookings through AAA Travel (excursions, accommodations, activities)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Don’t come here with an European mind set, everything goes much slower and there isn’t reason to rush. Try to accept that things go differently then planned. Even though Cape Town seems a very developed city compared to the rest of the country, it’s still Africa. So there is hardly public transport and it’s less organised than you expected. If you have an appointment, don’t assume it goes as planned. You have to double check everything you do.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes, I wasn’t that efficiently as in Europe

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: rosemarievanderboon@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t take any chances when it comes to safety. When it’s dark its not safe for you to walk around. Call a cab if you need to get somewhere in the evening/night, even though it’s just two blocks away don’t go walking. Don’t show your possessions such as iPhone, wallet, money or jewelry, as you can easily get robbed. Try to minimize you’re values if you go anywhere, especially when you’re going clubbing.

The public transport is safe but it’s not regularly. That’s why I really would recommend hiring a car, it gives you much freedom, certainly if you’re staying in Hout Bay.

If you follow the rules and keep you’re head straight nothing will happen to you.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is so much to do in Cape Town. Go visit Table Mountain, Robben Island, Cape Point, Camps Bay, Llandudno beach, Camps Bay, Waterfront, Long Street (clubbing). Visit an African pinguin colony at Boulders Beach in Simon Town, the beaches of Clifton, whale watching in Hermanus, there are plenty of national parks nearby Cape Town, Old Biscuit Mill, Hout Bay Market and every Sunday there are summer concerts in Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. Plenty enough to discover.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link