TIME Unlimited Tours

Placement organization

Name of organization: TIME Unlimited Tours
Town/city: Auckland
Country: Nieuw Zeeland
Website:

Name of student: Vanessa Merx

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Inbound Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: TIME Unlimited is offering tours throughout Auckland and whole New Zealand while focusing strongly on the Maori culture. Furthermore, the company has recently launched a new business unit targeting the MICE industry. TIME Unlimited Tours is the most awarded tourism company in New Zealand.
Target group of the organization: Western Markets
Company culture: Informal, flat hierarchy
Number of employees: 15
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? partly

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

A little bit of everything. In the beginning, I joined tours to get an understanding of the company and its products (uniform will be provided). Next to that, I am mainly working on marketing related tasks.

Brief description of your daily activities: -preparing tours (preparing snack baskets, clean cars, call hotels regarding pick up time for clients, prepare manifests and boards for tour guides)
-assist tour guides
-vehicle audit (checking if vehicles if they meet all law requirements)
Brief description of your company assignment: -research into competitors and MICE market
-website analysis
-application for award
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Ceillhe is very caring and understanding. One has howerver be prepared to receive many different assignments at the same time. The problem is rather her huband, who is the second director of the company. His communication towards employees is almost disrespectful. One day he yelled at me for not properly cleaning the car (although that is usually the job of the tour guides) and he threw the snack basket I prepared on the drive way. Also, he tends to make many sexual references and jokes, which makes it uncomfortable for me to be alone with him in the office.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? team player, flexible, stress-proof, sociable, independent
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills
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? Myself
How did you go to work every day? By foot or public transport

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? yes, special visa for student internship
Do you need a work permit? no, is covered by visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? approx. a month
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? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 2000€
Accommodation (monthly): € 500€
Local transport (monthly): € 20€
General costs of living (monthly): € 300€
Costs of visa: € 200€
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Some meals and accommodation are provided on the tours.
I will join the directors to a tourism fair next month. In this case, they paid for my flight and the accommodation.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
To be honest, I did not really prepare. I already worked before my studies in various businesses so I kind of knew the ettiquette already.
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: 150607@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: The company provides me many opportunities to travel the country while working. However, as mentioned before one should not be too light hearted and care too much what the husband of the supervisor says.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Heabs since Auckland is the biggest city of the country. One can find water sport, hiking, sightseeing, vinyards, history, nightlife, shopping etc here. Also easy access to other parts of the country

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link