Seal Coast Safari / John’s Hop on Hop off City Tour

Placement organization

Name of organization: Seal Coast Safari / John’s Hop on Hop off City Tour
Town/city: Wellington
Country: Nieuw Zeeland
Website: http://www.sealcoast.co.nz

Student

Name of student: João Rodrigues

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Seal Coast Safari- focussed on adventure tours, observing Seals
John’s Hop On Hop Off- a hop on hop off Wellington tour

Target group of the organization: Cruise Ship passengers
Company culture: Very friendly office environment
Number of employees: 5 – 7 Seal Coast Safari / 3 – 4 John’s Hop on Hop off
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Operation manager department
Marketing department
I worked mailing in marketing and occasionally operations department
Brief description of your daily activities: Seal Coast Safari- collecting info for marketing plan John’s Hop On Hop Off- designing a survey, dealing with customers
Brief description of your company assignment: To improve customer figures by implementing better awareness methods, through marketing techniques and plan.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Very helpful, a constant contact between supervisor and student. Freedom to work independently but delivering expected on time.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Able to work independently, being sociable and being able to bring some different perspectives, mainly marketing techniques
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel and Word
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? By myself, through internet
How did you go to work every day? walked

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, a working/holiday visa
Do you need a work permit? included in visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Internet
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? few days
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): € a lot
Accommodation (monthly): € expensive
Local transport (monthly): € –
General costs of living (monthly): € 300,00
Costs of visa: € 40,00
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing

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? Very western…so basically you feel like you’ve been through it before. Very similar to European standards.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: joao_rodrigues_88@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be yourself and try to be professional!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: New Zealand is small country with a lot of stuff to do, hiring a van and travelling from North to South.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link