Adventure South

Placement organization

Name of organization: Adventure South
Town/city: Christchurch
Country: Nieuw Zeeland
Website: http://www.advsouth.co.nz

Student

Name of student: Marcel Schmitt

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Tour operator of cycling and hiking trips
Target group of the organization: Mainly New Zealander and Australians
Company culture: It is a very informal environment. Everybody except the boss Geoff and his wife Shelly sit in one office. You are considered to be part of the Adventure South team and also will be asked to give your point of view on certain issues. So you are considered to be part of the team.
Number of employees: 6 office staff + 1 intern; 2 depot staff, approximately 15 guides
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? No, even though it was said I would have work experiences in all departments I worked only in the financial department. Nonetheless does the company not really have distinctive departments but rather do the employees do multiple jobs.

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Finance, bookings/reservations, sales, marketing
I worked in Finance
Brief description of your daily activities: Braking down trip paperwork after completion of each trip. Mainly entering receipts in an accounting program called ´money works´. Controlling of costs and income of each tour. Presenting results of each trip to the office staff in regular meetings. Processing client trip review forms and analyzing them. Filling out several spreadsheets in excel for the statistics of bicycle usage and fuel consumption of the tour vehicles, etc..
Brief description of your company assignment: The co-development of a business plan for a new cycling tour on Bali.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Your main supervisors are Shelly and Kaye. They are very friendly and easy to talk to (no boundaries) and you can ask them anything.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? You need to be able to work independently even though you can always ask questions and somebody will help you if necessary. You need to be sociable and have a service oriented attitude as you will be expected to participate on at least one cycling tour where you will have to engage with the clients and represent Adventure South.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel, Word. You will be mainly working with an accounting program called MoneyWorks. This will be explained to you once you have started working at Adventure South.
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? I found accommodation by myself. Be aware that the housing situation in Christchurch is quite difficult as the past earthquake and the current rebuilding process has had a major impact on the housing market. Therefore there are only very few places available and additionally prices for a room are quite high. Be prepared to pay at least $100-150 a week for a small room.
How did you go to work every day? I cycle to work every day. The company equipped me with a bike for my placement period.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, I am on a work and travel visa.
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: I arranged everything via the internet and applied online for my visa. Take at least 4 weeks into account to organize your visa.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? No

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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1400,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 400,00
Local transport (monthly): € A bus ticket will cost around € 2 ($3,20 one way)
General costs of living (monthly): € 400,00 (currently the NZ $ is very strong compared to € and therefore costs of living are quite high)
Costs of visa: € 150,00
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? NZ$ 100,- per week
free bike usage
Participation of one cycling tour

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No, except the morning and afternoon tea brake of 15 minutes I haven´t experienced much of a cultural difference. The way of life in NZ is pretty relaxed and easy going and so is the working environment. The Kiwis are very friendly and helpful people as far as I can tell.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 103371@nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Just be yourself and experience the easy going Kiwis.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: You can go to the beach which takes about half an hour by bus from the city center. The city offers a museum, a botanical garden and various parks and many pubs and bars. You can easily do some day trips around Christchurch with public transport. If you have the possibility and the money to get a car for your placement period I would recommend it as it makes life much easier and your more independent to travel around.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link