Tailor Made Safaris

Placement organization

Name of organization: Tailor Made Safaris
Town/city: St Lucia
Country: Afrika
Website: http://tailormadesafaris.co.za

Name of student: Govert Plaat

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Tailor Made Safaris is a small touroperator with mixed a team of English, South African and Dutch. The company has been focused on the Dutch market but is at the moment expanding to te rest of Western Europe, The United States and the Australian market.
Target group of the organization: Western Europe, upper middle class
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 5-10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Tailor Made Safaris is a small company with around 5 to 10 employees. Because of its size it is not divided in departments, therefore interns have the opportunity to experience different part of the company.
Brief description of your daily activities: The tasks interns are allowed tot carry out change as the internship progresses. The first few weeks will mainly consist of content writing or any project that is running at the time. The aim is to introduce interns with the company; the target group and the area first before letting them take on more responsible tasks. At the end of the internship the list of responsibilities where as follows;
– Making cost calculations
– Making Quote overviews
– Make bookings for accommodations and activities; also follow up on problems with bookings and non responsive companies
– Make self drive books for guests
– Deliver welcome packs
– Communication with clients
– Writing English content for the website
– Translating text from English to Dutch

Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment followed up on the work of previous interns who had put together a trip to Botswana and Zambia. The first stage of my research focused on the question whether or not Tailor Made Safaris should conduct these tours themselves or hire a destination management company instead. During the second stage I researched the different destination management companies that operate in Botswana and Zambia. I approached four of them with an offer and ultimately selected the most suitable company.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The people at Tailor Made Safaris are great, they will always help you with problems you encounter. You have to be very independent and persistent though, make sure that you get the answer to your question otherwise people will forget about it.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? team player, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS office
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Dutch

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane, bus from Cape Town

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The company arranged accommodation
How did you go to work every day? We lived at the office

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, exchange permit
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy in The Hague
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Way to long
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? Vaccinations are optional but recommended, I did it a month before leaving

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, unless you have difficulty with the english language

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € +/- 800 euro
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 200, rental car cost split between two people
General costs of living (monthly): € 250
Costs of visa: € 35 euros
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Free accommodation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Talked with friends and family who have visited the country before.
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: govertplaat@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Both interns will be living in the accommodation behind the office, be aware that you will be living in close proximity to each other for five months. Besides living together you also work and most likely spend part of your free time together. Make sure you have some agreements beforehand.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The surrounding area has many activities such as diving, snorkelling, game parks, etc. Most of these activities are outdoors activities. There is no big night live anywhere except Durban (Florida Street).

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link