Australian Wildlife Adventures /

Placement organization

Name of organization: Australian Wildlife Adventures /
Town/city: Port Kenny
Country: Australië
Website: http://australianwildlifeadventures.com.au/

Student

Name of student: Maud Wijma

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

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroparator
Organization’s activities: Australian Wildlife Adventures is a tour operator that offers tours in South and Western Australia. They have two different brands, Nullarbor traveller that offers budget tours and Xplore Eyre that does the more high-end 3.5 star accommodated tours.

Besides that, they own a accommodation property.
Target group of the organization: mostly backpackers but also high-end travellers
Company culture: Every single one of your colleagues is willing to help, it is a very friendly and open environment to work in.
You will work in the office with Hassie and your other colleagues (operations manager Jason and marketing manager Anna) are based in Adelaide and Melbourne. So you’ll communicate a lot with them over the phone and by email.
Besides them you’ll be in contact with the guides regularly when they are stopping at Coodlie Park and help them via the phone if they need something.
Number of employees: 5
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Since AWA is such a small company you’ll get to work in all departures. This gives you the most complete view on how a tourism business operates and gives you the chance to find out what you like the most.

Brief description of your daily activities:
– Before you start working, you will do the main tour across the Nullarbor to get to know the product you are selling.
– Process bookings (Coodlie park & AWA)
– Help customers and agents (phone and e-mail)
– Reconfirm bookings
– Make sure all the passengers know where they have to be so the guide can pick them up on time to get the tours running as planned
– Welcome guests at Coodlie park
– Financial administration
– Keep up with the statistics
– Help cleaning with Coodlie Park
– When the tours arrive at Coodlie park (Thursday night), welcome them and cook an amazing BBQ for them & enjoy the campfire
– Designing vouchers
– Other little tasks in marketing
– And many more

Brief description of your company assignment: For my company assignment I re-designed the app that we use for feedback because it was not representative and not as useful as it could be and I made a sheet we can fill in to analyze it better.

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Hassie was my supervisor during my placement. He always gives good feedback and also values your opinion and recommendations. They love it when you take initiative. He is always willing to help and makes sure you’re OK. It can occur that you’re in the office alone for a few days but you can always call him (or Jason or Anna) if you need help with something.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independant, Stress-proof, Sociable, Flexible, Able to live in a remote place
Additional company requirements for this placement? Office skills, basic computer 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? Company
How did you go to work every day? Your room is next to the office

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Working holiday visa
Do you need a work permit? is included in your visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Official website of the Australian Government Department of home affairs
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? I got mine in 20 minutes
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? If you speak an average level of English, you should be alright.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €1500 – €2000
Accommodation (monthly): € –
Local transport (monthly): € –
General costs of living (monthly): € €50
Costs of visa: € €300
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Meals and accommodation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Not really, I spoke to people that visited before.
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: 171868@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: It is an amazing place to learn and develop yourself. You really get the chance to do so, take it and don’t be afraid to make mistakes 😉
Have FUN
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There is an amazing private beach in your backyard
There are some really cool activities to do in the area (swimming with sealions and dolphins, surfing etc.)
The weekly BBQ with the tour groups

Media