Wildlife Tours Australia

Placement organization

Name of organization: Wildlife Tours Australia
Town/city: Melbourne
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.wildlifetours.com.au

Name of student: Fayka de With

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: The organizations offers tours to a few different sightseeing in Victoria. For example the Great Ocean Road and Philip Island.
Target group of the organization: Everyone, a little bit low budget
Company culture: Everybody really appreciates the work you are doing. The colleagues are friendly and will always help you. There is an informal atmosphere.
Number of employees: 15
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes, definitely!

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Most of the time I worked at Reservations.

I also had the opportunity to help a morning and see how it is to get all the busses on the road. I also joined the marketing manager a few times. It is really interesting to see all the different departments in a company.
Brief description of your daily activities: – picking up the phones (questions, complains, bookings, hotels, bus drivers, company’s)
– answer emails
– make bookings
– order sandwiches

Brief description of your company assignment: The company just introduced tablets into the busses. On these tablets, people are able to give feedback. What do they think about the tour, the food, the bus driver etc. I progressed this information in excel. I tried to figure out why some rates are not as good as we want them to be and how we can improve to get better rates.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor is really kind and he wants to help you where possible.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, stress-proof, easy going, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? Writing skills
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? Yourself
How did you go to work every day? Public transport and bike

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, Working Holiday Visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Government website Australia
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 5 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, but if your English is really bad, yes!

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200
Accommodation (monthly): € 700
Local transport (monthly): € 100
General costs of living (monthly): € 300
Costs of visa: € 300
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Up to $ 700 (which is around 550 euro) for accommodation.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Everybody is easy going, the culture in Australia is similar to Europe.
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: faykadew@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: The internship is great, time flies by and you will definitely enjoy your time in Melbourne.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Melbourne is a great city, there is a lot to see and to do. I love the street artists and musicians.
You also have the opportunity to go on the tours with the company, which is really nice!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link