Abercrombie & Kent

Placement organization

Name of organization: Abercrombie & Kent
Town/city: Melbourne
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.abercrombiekent.com.au/

Student

Name of student: Katie Prince

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: Abercrombie & Kent is a tour operator who focus on luxurious tours etc. to many destinations worldwide. There are 50 offices worldwide.
The Cruise-department I was working provide tours and for the guests who are on a Cruise and come. They work for different Cruise ships to provide transfer, tours etc. Working for different Cruise clients and provide tours for them. They also work for differentb Cruise companies.

Target group of the organization: High end/ Cruise guests
Company culture: The company’s culture is very Australian; hard working but also relaxed. Everyone is always busy but you can ask if you need help. Beside de DMC part of the company, I only saw the other departments at company meetings or activities at the Social Club. Everyone is nice but communication is mostly on a formal way.
Number of employees: Around the 60 in total & 10 in the department
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Cruise department/ DMC Cruise
Brief description of your daily activities: In the beginning;
– Updating information of Guides. Get in contact with them by phone or email, change data in excel. Admin duties when needed
When the Cruise season started a few weeks later;
– Confirming bookings. Helping the Cruise-department when needed. Admin duties. Creating Guide packs & Signs. Answering email or phone calls of Guides.

Brief description of your company assignment: Creating new tours for the Shorex season (Cruise clients). I had to make tours for 3 ports (Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart). For each port I had to make 2 tours for the Australian/Domestic market and 1 tour for the international market. I had to make a proposal with description, time schedule, costs etc. to offer to the Cruise Clients.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision is good. They are busy all the time but they will help you when you ask for this. They also look after you to develop and improve yourself during the placement.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, flexible, team player, stress-proof
Additional company requirements for this placement? Ms office; mostly excel, writing skills
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I saw it on internet and via a previous intern
How did you go to work every day? Tram and foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Working Holiday Visa
Do you need a work permit? –
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Myself/ internet
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 5 days
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
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? Only when it is really hard to speak, understand and write English

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €1150
Accommodation (monthly): € €450
Local transport (monthly): € €100
General costs of living (monthly): € €350
Costs of visa: € €350
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of $300 dollar a week, but $100 of this is taxes.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Not really. I read a lot about a Australia, but not specific to prepare for the country’s culture
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Not at all.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: Katie_prince94@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be flexible and show the best of yourself during the placement. Work hard, but also enjoy your time!! Time will fly. Do the things you want so you won’t regret
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: If you have the time to travel, take this change. Find out what you want to see, because Australia is very big and the country offer a lot. The East Coast is a great place to travel along, there is a lot to see but you need some time to go to different places.
Melbourne has a lot to offer. It is a very nice place to live here and I could stay here much longer. The city offers a lot to do, but you will find out. In the weekend you can visit places/activities like the Great Ocean Road, Grampians, Phillip Island, Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges. You can also go camping on hiking in Wilson Promontory. These places are close to Melbourne, and I recommend to do tours and trips in the weekend.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link