EF Educational Tours

Placement organization

Name of organization: EF Educational Tours
Town/city: Sydney
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.eftours.com

Name of student: Demi van Luling

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: EF educational tours in the south pacific region provide tours to high-school students in the United States and Canada. The students can book a tour via their teacher and they can travel on itineraries to Australia, the northern Island of New-Zealand and Fiji to be educated in the places they visit and learn more about the culture.
Target group of the organization: High school students in the U.S and Canada
Company culture: There is not really a hierarchy and I felt like a real employee.
Number of employees: 1 for Educational Tours and 7 in the office for other programs
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Educational Tours
Brief description of your daily activities: Sending updates to suppliers, contacting tour directors, Invoices, booking tour components, work with tablets for the tour directors
Brief description of your company assignment: I am doing research on development of itineraries in the South-Pacific.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor Alysson is very nice young women. She gives you a lot of responsibility.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Sociable, independent, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? Outlook, Excel
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? Friends
How did you go to work every day? Public transport

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: Internet
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 2 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

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €999,00
Accommodation (monthly): € €450,- to €500,-
Local transport (monthly): € €50,- to €80,- (you travel for free on the weekends if you do more than 8 trips a week)
General costs of living (monthly): € €400,- (depends)
Costs of visa: € €450
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? I went on a tour to New Zealand and EF paid for everything. I also joined some tours in and around Sydney.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
No I did not really prepare. The culture is very easy-going. “No Worries” is a phrase that’s used a lot.
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: Demivanluling@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Take the most out of it because time flies and it might be a once in a life time experience. Also be open-minded and curious it will make your job a lot more fun.
You get to the possibility to join tours, as you don’t get paid.. So take advantage of that and just ask if you want to go somewhere.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Sydney is a huge city and there is lots to see. It is also a very expensive city but don’t let it scare you and let you from doing things. Go see all the beaches in Sydney because they are very beautiful.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link