7th Sense Travel

Placement organization

Name of organization: 7th Sense Travel
Town/city: Cape Town
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://www.seventh-sense.co.za

Student

Name of student: Astrid Hohn

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: DMC
Organization’s activities: Creating itineraries including budgets and presentations on request
Target group of the organization: Business traveler and individuals
Company culture: The company is really small hence it is really informal and relaxed to work with. Everyone calls each other by first names. The interns get really involved and have a lot to do.
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? It’s a really small team. There is our boss, and the FIT and MICE department
I worked in the MICE department
Brief description of your daily activities: Creating itineraries and budgets, negotiations with suppliers, creating programs by use of powerpoint
Brief description of your company assignment: I created an 6 day itinerary on request of Thomas Cook for Cape Town and the Winelands.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Margeaux is really nice and sweet. She is extremely busy but always tries to make some time for you and open to your questions.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Language skills, open-minded, team player and stress-resistant as well as sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? Mosty Excel and Powerpoint, Outlook
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French: is preferred as the company is run by a French owner and France is still the main market. However, I do not speak a single word and it was not a problem at all.
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I started looking on gumtree and got in contact with friends and people from different webpages. I found a nice accommodation via an agency but it’s kind of a trouble with the lady. A good starting point is Gumtree.co.za
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, I just got my tourist visa when I entered the country and applied for an extension via Home Affairs after a month
Do you need a work permit? No. But just inform yourself before going to SA. There are current changes going on.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: If you go to SA with the normal tourist visa, never mention that you are working in SA, neither by entering the country, nor at Home Affairs. Just pretend to be a tourist. There is a lot of confusion regarding the visa requirements. Get yourself well informed beforehand!
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): € 740,00
Accommodation (monthly): € ZR 2550,00
Local transport (monthly): € depends
General costs of living (monthly): € 400,00 (rough estimation, depends on the persons lifestyle)
How long in advance did you apply for visa For South Africa no vaccinations are required. If you want to travel, inform yourself regarding malaria (Kruger) etc.
Costs of visa: € ZAR 425,00 for the tourist visa extension
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? ZAR 1550,00

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, not really due to the fact that the company is run by a French and hence there is not much of the slow-African culture visible. Anne Christine has a sketchy idea of how to run the company.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 101662@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Just use your common sense in SA. Cape Town is (compared to other cities) quite safe but it is still Africa. Don’t walk around at night, watch your valuables (as phones get stolen quite often) and be careful on Long Street during night.

But if you make use of your common sense, you should be fine!

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Lots!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link