Tourism That Cares

Placement organization

Name of organization: Tourism That Cares
Town/city: Cape Town
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://www.bestsafariafrica.com/

Student

Name of student: Noortje Matos Fernandes

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Online Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: Tourism That Cares focusses on tailor made holidays, honeymoons, anniversaries and special occasion trips, including incentive trips. Besides having diversity in the type of safaris the business offer, such as Kosher, 3 and 4 star safaris or luxury safaris, activities such as extreme sports or nature based activities can be booked for clients.
Target group of the organization: Diverse but mostly kosher , student, family and luxury clients
Company culture: The company is informal due to the small size company and family feeling atmosphere. The CEO and salesmanager are in charge of the majority of responsibilities, so a hierarchy can be noticed regarding this leadership. Besides the sales manager and CEO, three Junior travel consultants and two administrative staff member are part of the team.
Number of employees: 7
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I am working as an all round employee, so in all departments, except for the payments. Due to the small size company, there are no departments. However, a division can be made between the administrative tasks and travel consultant tasks such as making quotes.
Brief description of your daily activities: The daily activities are varied. In het beginning the focus is on geographical information regarding the countries the company offers in Africa. After gaining more knowledge of this,daily activities arise such as making quotes, mostly for student trips and the booking process. This activities consist of; contact with accommodations for checking availability and STO rates, booking confirmation, making vouchers and invoices for clients, developing quotes, keeping track of social media, attent meetings and administrative activities such as developing databases, making excel sheets with package information and updating the website.
Brief description of your company assignment: The largest part of the company assignment consist of keeping track of social media and executing a marketing plan for Kosher travel and the Isrealian market. However, due to the rapid growth of the company, the company assignment will probably change for future interns.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision is done by the CEO of the company and sales manager. Luckily they take the time for training and supervise in the best way possible eventhough the company is facing busy times. The supervision and training helps to gain a better insight in what you would like to become in the future.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent and sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel skills and accuracy regarding administrative tasks
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages: Due to many dutch students, it is an advantage for the company to have a advanced level of Dutch

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via the organisation Xchange SA
How did you go to work every day? by car

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? yes, you need an exchange VISA. Advisable to start in time due to the complicated system of the South African embassy. Moreover it is important to check mulitple or single entry for intentions for travelling to other countries in Africa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: The South African embassy and Xchange SA
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 2-3 months
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? I had already all the necessary vaccinations due to other travel experience. However, I think 2 months in advance is necessary

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, only if level of English is not advanced

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 850
Accommodation (monthly): € 200 (when sharing a room and not living in the centre) when living in the centre and single room 300 euros
Local transport (monthly): € Local transport is not recommended . car rental (190 euros per month and 60 euros petrol costs)
General costs of living (monthly): € Approximately 200 euro
Costs of visa: € 50 (excluding all other payments for necessary documents)
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? The company offered a financial compensation of 50 euros per month.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I prepare for the country’s culture due to asking experience of people who have been to South Africa before. It is good to inform beforehand about the way of living and safe areas ect.
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: noortje-mf@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: It is important to be aware of the unsafety of the city. So make copies of passports and important documents and get a taxi everywhere instead of walking. Moreover try not to hike alone while certain routes are dangerous.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are a lot of leisure activities in and around Cape Town. I used Cape Town magazine a lot for checking out nice events, restaurants and activities. I advice to plan everything as soon as possible because 5 months is too short to visit everything. Moreover some activities get cancelled a lot (such as shark cage diving, robbenisland or Seal snorkeling) and are only taking place in the winter or summer months.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link