Tourism KwaZulu-Natal

Placement organization

Name of organization: Tourism KwaZulu-Natal
Town/city: Durban
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://zulu.org.za

Student

Name of student: Maire Jacobs

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tourism Board
Organization’s activities: Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, is responsible for the development, promotion and marketing of tourism into and within the province
Target group of the organization: visitors who come into the province KwaZulu-Natal
Company culture: Company has a good balance between formal and informal, people are dressed smart and address each other in a polite manner. However, there is a lot of freedom and laughter in the office which makes it a good and easy place to work.
Number of employees: 50
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Tourism Information Service – Research
Brief description of your daily activities: Research tourism markets – responsible for several projects, amongst which is the visitor book project report. Plus involved in fieldwork and questionnaire administration during certain event impact assessment surveys, amongst other duties.

These are all spread out over the period of 20 weeks, highly depends on what the research departments needs
Brief description of your company assignment: Visitor Book project –
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal started the Visitor Book Project in 1998 to gain an understanding of the number of tourists visiting KZN and to gain knowledge of their interests. This information is relevant to all tourism planning, marketing and promotion campaigns, service and facility improvement, and tourism development in general
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Supervision is good – they are very easy and leave a lot up to you. All your questions will be answered and they will make sure everything is going well

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Flexible, independent, easy to adapt to different cultures
Additional company requirements for this placement? Formal writing skills, Ms office
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? previous students
How did you go to work every day? Uber/public transport

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, student visa
Do you need a work permit? No, student visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy of South Africa
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Long! Start at least 3 months in advance
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 6 weeks

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, if you are aTourism Management student the English you know is enough

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 700
Accommodation (monthly): € 200
Local transport (monthly): € 100
General costs of living (monthly): € 200
Costs of visa: € 50
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Small financial compensation of R1500 which is about 80 euros

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I asked the previous student some questions besides that I did not prepare
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: mairejacobs@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Durban is not the safest place in the world, there it is wise that you have insurance of your personal belongings in case something gets stolen. Never leave your stuff unattended at the beach, it will be gone after 5 seconds. Furthermore, just be aware that it is not safe (guys and girls) to walk around after sunset.

Besides that, it is basically just using common sense and everything will be perfect! Be open to different cultures around you and treat the people with respect, they appreciate it if you know a bit of their own language (Zulu). You can come a long way with that
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Lots of places to go for leisure activities. Durban is a great place to stay, since it’s always summer. There is a great ‘Golden Mile’ beach and many watersports possibilties, together with the biggest mall of the southern hemisphere, Durban is a wonderful place to be at.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link