Tailor Made Safaris

Placement organization

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

Name of student: Rosaly van Doorn

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Tailor Made Safaris is a Dutch touroperator who offers guided and self-drive tours through Southern Africa (South-Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Botswana). Every client who books a self-drive receives a customized travel guide, GPS navigation and mobile phone with South African SIM to be able to get in touch with the office in case of emergencies. All tours are tailor made.
Target group of the organization: Dutch, English and American people with average/higher incomes
Company culture: Informal
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? There are no real departments as it is a small company.
Brief description of your daily activities: – social media updates
– make itineraries for clients
– make quote overviews and cost calculators for clients
– make self-drive books for clients
– write texts for the website
– make changes to the website
– search for new accommodations
– make bookings for accommodations and activities
– meeting clients when they are in St.Lucia
– answer phone calls for Bhangazi Horse Safaris
– assist with anything else that needs to be done
Brief description of your company assignment: I wrote a plan on how to improve the website, to improve the score on the organic search results in search engines; SEO.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision was good. I could always ask questions and at the beginning of my internship I got a lot of practice exercises to get familiar with the work we deliver to clients, which helped a lot. If you don’t understand something they explain, then ask. It will be appreciated by the staff, take initiative.

Requirements for students on placement

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

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The company arranged accommodation for me.
How did you go to work every day? By foot, the apartment is next to the office

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, exchange visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: South African embassy in The Hague
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 2 months
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 2 months

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, not necessary

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 700
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 200, mini-lease for a rental car
General costs of living (monthly): € 400
Costs of visa: € 35
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? The company arranged free accommodation.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare anything.
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: rosalyvandoorn@outlook.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: St. Lucia is a small town, so don’t apply for this placement if you want to live in a big city where you can go shopping/go to the cinema every weekend. There are a couple of restaurants and bars, but it can be a quiet place. There are lots of things to do, but it’s mostly outdoor activities and nature. I would recommend to rent a car during the internship, as it makes it much easier to get around and explore SA.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: You can go to the beach, go snorkeling, go on a boat trip to see hippos&crocs, visit one of the many close-by safari destinations, swim with dolphins in Mozambique, go to Durban for a weekend, go horse riding, go on a fishing or whale watching trip, kayaking, mountain biking, hiking. There are lots of possibilities.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link