Go Tours Travel / Surf the Earth

Placement organization

Name of organization: Go Tours Travel / Surf the Earth
Town/city: Gold Coast
Country: Australië

Student

Name of student: Lara Stein
Website: http://www.gotours.com.au
Name of student: Lara Stein
Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Booking holidays, put together itinearies, sending quotes
Target group of the organization: Adventurous tourists
Company culture: Very laid back and friendly, everyone is on the same level. I was being trained to be a travel agent and got supported by everyone in the office
Number of employees: 17 only 3 full time agents at the office
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Small company only one department and outside agents
Brief description of your daily activities: Dealing with customer enquiries, dealing with wholesalers, put together quotes, research on destinations (hotels, activities, transport), deal with social media and websites of company, select specials for websites
Brief description of your company assignment: Develop a promotional plan and promotion for the destination of the Solomon Islands
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: very good supervision by owner of company, well looked after
Connection with study program: Relevant

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Communication skills, english skills, organisational skills, independent, planning skills
Additional company requirements for this placement? Basic word skills, Internet
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself
How did you go to work every day? Scooter

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: I applied for a partner visa, because I have an Australian partner.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Work and travel visa can be applied for online and takes 10 minutes
Did you need certain vaccinations? No

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1350,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 600,00
Local transport (monthly): € 30,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 500,00
Costs of visa: 290,00 work and holiday visa, 330,00 sponsorship visa
Costs of work permit: € n/a
What did the company pay for/to you? € EUR 150,00 per month

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture? I didn’t
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

My telephone number:
My e-mail address: SteinLara@web.de

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Very laid back country and company, just adjust to culture and you will be fine
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Lots of Beaches, Theme Parks, the Hinterland (mountains, rain forests, walks, waterfalls …), zoo, shopping, surfing, lots of different tourist activities, close to Brisbane and Byron Bay great for day trips, lots of bars and clubs

Media

Youtube linkYoutube video internship