African Ample Assistance

Placement organization

Name of organization: African Ample Assistance
Town/city: Cape Town
Country: Afrika
Website: https://aaatravelafrica.com/

Student

Name of student: Lieske Stam
Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2021-2022

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: AAA Travel (African Ample Assistance) is a Destination Management Company based in Cape Town – South Africa focusing purely on B2B model of operation.
Organization’s activities: 

They have been in operation since 1997 and they have over 20 years of experience in organising and packaging unforgettable true and authentic African dream holidays specializing in FIT & Group Travel, Incentives, Tailor Made, Special Interest travel and Cruise Ship Handling.

They specialize in travels to Southern Africa, East Africa, and Indian Ocean Islands (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles)

If clients are on search of a secluded Beach Getaway, Self-Drive, Group Travel, Solo Travel, an exclusive City Retreat, Safari lodge, Tailor- Made, Camping or Hiking themed holidays, AAA Travel can advise you on all products and designs.
Target group of the organization: Mostly the Benelux.
Company culture: The company culture is great. My colleagues were very helpful, supportive and positive. There is a manager in the company which was also my supervisor during whole my internship. For the rest there are different departments and there is mostly one person which is the ‘head’ of the department. Everyone is very relaxed and always willing to help.
Number of employees: Right now they have around 17 employees. Before the pandemic this was much more, but unfortunately they had to downsize to save money.
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes.

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Just to be clear, I have been working online for this company. Unfortunately, I was not able to travel to South Africa as the country is still in orange and your not allowed to travel to an orange country outside of Europe.

I have been working for three different departments in the 20 weeks I worked for AAA Travel. First two months I worked in the contracting department, the next two months I worked in the sales department and in the last month of my internship I will be working in the reservations department.

Brief description of your daily activities: First two months I worked in the contracting department. Tasks I did in this department were:
-sending emails to suppliers to collect their rates.
-sending emails to guides to collect proof of vaccination and ask them to sign covid protocols.
-making a schedule for product training and send emails to suppliers to ask if they can attend.
-doing research to new type of excursions in South Africa and contact them afterwards.
-sending emails to collect Public Liability Insurances of all suppliers.
-all the documents that I received I had to put them in special folders in a program of the company called EOS.

The next 2 months I worked in the sales department. Tasks I did in this department were:
-my biggest task was doing research to new Dutch or Belgian suppliers. from the big list of suppliers I collected we will choose a top 10 which we will contact to see if they are interested to work with the company.
-When writing this document I am now in my first month of the sales department so not exactly sure what kind of tasks I will get after this.

Next to working in these departments I have been doing some other tasks too, which are:
-taking care of all the Facebook posts of the company.
-translating and updating a child booklet. In this child booklet there are many facts and questions about bush animals which kids can take with them when going on safari.

In the last month of my internship I will be working in the reservations department. For this I will have to learn how to work with their complex booking system called Tourplan. I have not worked in this department yet, but it will be mostly about taking in bookings of clients and make all the needed reservations.
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment, which I am making for AAA Travel, will be making a refreshed and refocused study of the Benelux source market. For this assignment the core focus points were:
1. Market analysis Pre/Post Covid.
2. Digital transformation.
3. Creating a customer journey.
4. Traditional booking channels vs. Do it yourself.
5. Trends for 2021 and beyond.
6. The low hanging fruit – WHAT IS THERE FOR THE TAKING, with minimal fuzz.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor was the manager of the company. He is a very nice guy. Every Wednesday we had a meeting at 11:00-11:30. In this meeting we discussed on my work, how it is going in general and tasks to focus on for the next week. He always helped me with everything and he was a great supervisor.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, teamplayer, sociable and flexible.
Additional company requirements for this placement? No additional requirements needed.
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: I work out of home. Therefore, no transport needed.

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I live with my family.
How did you go to work every day? I work out of home. Therefore, no transport needed.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No.
Do you need a work permit? No.
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
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? I already do whole my study in English. Therefore, my English level is totally fine. I do not think a language course is needed.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € –
Accommodation (monthly): € –
Local transport (monthly): € –
General costs of living (monthly): € –
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing. However, they said if I am able to travel to South Africa they will organise a weekend trip for me without any costs.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
After Highschool I spent 3 months in Cape Town to do a Cambridge course. After this I also came back many times to visit Cape Town again and meet up with old friends. Because of this I already knew a lot about the culture of the country.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Actually not. Many of my colleagues were actually also Dutch from origin and the company works with Dutch markets. Therefore, the culture is pretty similar to mine and it did not influence me.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 180210@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: –
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place:

-Table mountain
-Clifton
-Lions head
-Houtbay market
-Camps bay
-Constantia wine farms
-Waterfront

Media