Autopia Tours

Placement organization

Name of organization: Autopia Tours
Town/city: Melbourne
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.autopiatours.com.au/

Name of student: Sofie Rath

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: Autopia Tours mainly operates tours along the Great Ocean Road, Philip Island and the Grampians.
Target group of the organization: Backpackers and international tourists
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 8 employees + yourself
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Mainly at the reservations department but you will also do some marketing duties in the city.
Brief description of your daily activities: Four days a week you will be working at the administration department where you will partake in the activities of reservations and sometimes some marketing duties in the city. Next to these daily tasks there are a lot of other administration and office tasks to do.
Your duties will be answering phone calls, entering bookings into reservations. Bookings by phone as by email. You will also help tourism agents over the phone by answering there questions, dealing with customers questions and informing them about the availability on the tours.
Autopia use JRS as reservation system.
Brief description of your company assignment: //
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: //

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, flexible in working hours, stress-proof
Additional company requirements for this placement? /
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Plane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The first month Autopia will arrange a hostel for you, from the 2nd month you will have to find something yourself.
How did you go to work every day? Train to Newportstation and bike to work

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, Work Holiday Visa
Do you need a work permit? /
How did you arrange the necessary documents: http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/417.aspx
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Few days
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, you will learn everything during your inernship.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € +/- €1500,-
Accommodation (monthly): € +/- $800 = +/- €580,-
Local transport (monthly): € +/- $130,- = +/- €90,-
General costs of living (monthly): € +/- $500,- = +/- €360,-
Costs of visa: € €300,-
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Autopia paid my accommodation up to +/- $800,-

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
In Australia you won’t have a culture shock for sure, they are just more relaxed.
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: samsofierath@live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Try to find a place to live in the CBD, it will only takes you +/- 45 minutes to go to work and you are close to everything and you can easy go for a drink at night.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: favourite: Chuckle park! (bar) in the CBD

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link