Abercrombie & Kent

Placement organization

Name of organization: Abercrombie & Kent
Town/city: Melbourne
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.akorndmc-cruise.com/

Student

Name of student: Aukje klein Gebbink

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Tour operator that focuses on luxury travel, customized holidays offering journeys to each continent, covering many destinations worldwide. A&K has around 50 offices worldwide, 47 DMCs and three main offices consisting of DMC & SMC; UK, USA and Australia.
Target group of the organization: Cruise passengers; mainly 50+
Company culture: The company culture is quite informal. Everyone is relaxed, open and very interested. External communication is formal and you are required to dress Business Casual in the office.
Number of employees: 70
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Cruise Department
Brief description of your daily activities: Booking guides, creating run sheets, printing documents for pier managers, Ad Hoc activities for Cruise team, proposals for different Cruise liners and assisting in port calls at the pier in Melbourne.
Brief description of your company assignment: Developing 10 new tours for multiple ports Abercrombie & Kent operates in.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor is Toby Biddick. He is always asking how I am doing and also outside the office. He really wants to make sure you enjoy your stay in the company and Melbourne as well. He very helpful and you can also ask him questions. The overall atmosphere is very nice. Everyone is very welcoming and interested. They are always happy to help you out and really appreciating all the things your doing for them. They really make you feel like a fellow employee instead of an intern.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, team player, flexible, stress-proof.
Additional company requirements for this placement? 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? Through previous students and via a Facebook page
How did you go to work every day? By foot (30 minutes), you can also take a tram or go by bike.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Working Holiday Visa
Do you need a work permit? No.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Online via the website of the Australian Government http://www.australia.gov.au/
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? I got it within one day, but they advise to do it atleast 2 months before departure
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? Only if you are really bad in English

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200
Accommodation (monthly): € 500 euro
Local transport (monthly): € 0 (100 euro if you use public transport to go to work)
General costs of living (monthly): € 500, depends on how you live
Costs of visa: € 300 euro
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? $1200 per month – around $1000 per month after tax. This will cover your accommodation costs and a bit of your general living costs.
If a ship is coming into port in the weekends, you can ask to join a tour for free or go on a cruise ship.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I didn’t prepare for Australia’s culture. It is an Western culture and quite similar to the Netherlands. They are however more relaxed and laid back.
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: 141611@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: I would highly recommend this placement. The colleagues are so nice, the tasks are interesting and fun to do. You will get to do some field work at the pier as well, which I really enjoyed and you will get to join tours and get to go ships as well.

Plan your weekends well. There are only a couple ship dates in the weekend, on which you would be able to join a tour, so make sure you keep those days free if you want to join one of the tours.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is a lot to do in and around Melbourne. Try to enjoy every sunny weekend, cause Melbourne is very unpredictable when it comes to weather. Of course do the obvious Great Ocean Road, Grampians trips. Definitely make a weekend or long weekend trip for those. Wilsons Promontory and Mornington Peninsula Hotsprings are also really nice.
There are also a lot of festivals in the weekends.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link