AC Group

Placement organization

Name of organization: AC Group
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website:

Student

Name of student: Amber Verstegen

Specialist area: TM
Placement period: 2018-2019

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Destination Management Company
Organization’s activities: Not one day is the same at AC Group, but also not one department is the same at AC Group. AC Group is a B2B company and they create trips for tour operators and the tour operators sell these trips to their clients.
Target group of the organization: Europe, North America, Australia, Asia
Company culture: AC Group has different departments with sub departments including the Luxe, Online, Sales, Contracting, Group operations, Accounts and Content Entry department. Every department has a manager and the whole company has a managing director and two CEO’s. They also have different offices in New York and Paris. The overall atmosphere in the company is informal; they are very friendly and social with each other.
Number of employees: 90
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Group Operations Department

Brief description of your daily activities: I was helping with all the group bookings. Calling hotels, releasing and extending hotel rooms, making itineraries, calling and booking entrances for group bookings, emailing clients and different companies, making sure that the system was up-to-date
Brief description of your company assignment: I had to make a destination analysis.
The destination analysis was about Scotland and the German market, who visits Scotland the most out of all the clients from AC Group.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I had a very good company supervisor. Very friendly and helpful and learned a lot from my company supervisor. Everybody in the company is very nice and they will also help you if you ask for it.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Stress-proof, independent but also a team player, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, Excel, Tourplan (they will also learn you this program)
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane, train, bus

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I arranged it myself
How did you go to work every day? Underground

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No (but I do not know if this changes after the Brexit)
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: 
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 
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? Yes, if your English level is basic

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €125
Accommodation (monthly): € €580
Local transport (monthly): € €120
General costs of living (monthly): € €500
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not have to prepare for the country’s culture, because it is not very different from the Netherlands
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: 162540@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do whatever you like to do!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is a lot to do in London. You can go to all the tourist attractions if you have not been there before, but London also has a lot of different things to offer that not many people know about. It is nice to wander around in London and enjoy all the people and the scenery. It is an amazing city and the people are very friendly. The shopping streets and centres are also very nice and the night life too.

The office of AC Group is located in the Millbank Tower, which is just across the Thames, so it is in the centre of London. You can see the Big Ben and London Eye from the Millbank Tower, which is only a 10-minute walk from the office. From the office you have a beautiful view of the city.
Pimlico Underground Station is also a 10-minute walk and there is a bus stop at the Millbank Tower.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link