African Ample Assistance

Placement organization

Name of organization: African Ample Assistance
Town/city: Houtbay, Cape Town
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://aaatravel.co.za/

Student

Name of student: Rosan Schoenmakers

Specialist area: Tourism Management (NL)
Placement period: 2019-2020

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: Making unique tours in Southern Africa for travel agents (B2B)
Target group of the organization: FIT’s, Groups, families
Company culture: A informal and pleasant atmosphere. Everybody is very helpful. I am having a very nice time with colleagues and every last Friday of the month everyone ends the month with drinks at the company.
Number of employees: +/- 50
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?
Contracting and reservations

Brief description of your daily activities: Social media
Translations
Contracting activities
Mail Chimp
Brief description of your company assignment: The company assignment is doing research about how to increase the sales of AAA Travel to other countries then the ones they are already focused on.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision from the company is excellent. My supervisor is very involved and you can ask everything.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills, word, excel
English: Advanced
Other languages: Dutch

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? 4 Exchange
How did you go to work every day? Bus (MyCiti bus)

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: embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? at least 2 months (1 for arranging the documents, 1 waiting for via)
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): € 600 for the flight
Accommodation (monthly): € 400
Local transport (monthly): € 100
General costs of living (monthly): € 500
Costs of visa: € 300
Costs of work permit: € na
What did the company pay for/to you? there are no compensations given.
Possibility to try accommodations or to join excursions for free

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I read a bit on the internet, but didn’t prepare a lot.
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: rosan_1999@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Explore more than just Cape Town (Garden Route, other countries)
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: – Hiking (table mountain, lions head, etc.)
– Surfing
– Canoeing
– Seal snorkeling
– Horse riding
– Zip lining
– Festivals
– Wine tastings
– (ocean) safari

and a lot more!

Media