JAC Travel

Placement organization

Name of organization: JAC Travel
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: http://www.jactravel.co.uk/index.html

Student

Name of student: Erikas Kazlauskas

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: hotel wholesaler
Organization’s activities: Selling hotel rooms to other travel agencies
Target group of the organization: Travel agencies
Company culture: There are quite a few departments in the company (reservations, marketing, sales, accounting, etc.) Each department has its own manager to which issues have to be reported. These managers are empowered to hire employees and make all decisions related to their department however they still have to report yearly numbers to the managing board. So, hierarchy in the company is not very noticeable. As for formality I could say that communication with your colleagues is not formal and with managers semi formal.
Number of employees: 200
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Reservations (FIT)
Brief description of your daily activities: Doing special requests, amending bookings, running rooming lists, confirming bookings, sending refurbishment notifications, solving communication error between the company and a hotel, analyzing data and writing reports on a monthly basis, dealing with customer complaints. Sometimes attending hotel presentations or doing quality inspections in the hotel and writing reviews.
Brief description of your company assignment: Researching Mexico as a potential market for company’s expansion.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Supervision is not strict as long as you deal with your tasks properly and on time. Everyone is very friendly and willing to help.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? communication skills, writing skills
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills, MS office, (excel)
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: tube

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? myself through ads on the internet
How did you go to work every day? tube (public transport)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? NO
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): € 150
Accommodation (monthly): € 700
Local transport (monthly): € 100-150
General costs of living (monthly): € 1100-1200
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? NOTHING (really big issue). Consider your financial situation before applying for this position. Costs of living are very high, but company does not contribute at all.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
It’s Western Culture. No preparation needed. However, for Dutch students recommend to be not too direct and address people in more polite manner.
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: 121258@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Try to arrange at least a minimal compensation from the company.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Unlimited. The biggest concerts, sport events, etc. take place every week

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link