RESPONSible Travel Peru

Placement organization

Name of organization: RESPONSible Travel Peru
Town/city: Cusco
Country: Peru
Website: http://www.responsibletravelperu.com

Student

Name of student: Joost van Noppen

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Responsible tour operator, selling tours at tourists, working with local communities
Target group of the organization: Travellers who are looking for a different experience.
Company culture: It is very informal here at the office. We joke around a lot. Sometimes go out for lunch together. However up until now we did not meet much after office hours.
Number of employees: 10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? There are three locations: Lima, Cusco and Huaraz. The Cusco office is the largest and is divided in Sales and Operations.
I worked in Ventas but also the other departments actually.
Brief description of your daily activities: Answering emails, updating the website, making tours for clients.
Brief description of your company assignment: Arranging the tourist visits to a local community and also plan the impacts and development of the tourism there, together with the community
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor was Guido van Es. A great guy, funny but also serious if necessary, very knowledgable about many things. Only always very busy since he is the owner of the company

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, flexible, teamplayer.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Photoshop, Internet, good Excel
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? First it was arranged through the company, but after a month I found my own place to live in Cusco, with a local family.
How did you go to work every day? Walking

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? Yes

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes, it was also required by the company.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1100,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 88,00
Local transport (monthly): € 7,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 175,00
How long in advance did you apply for visa If you have no vaccinations 4 months
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? 100,00 EUR per month, accommodation and meals

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

Future students on placement

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

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: –
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are way too many things to do inside around and outside Cusco but in Peru. So many things that I actually do not have enough time to do them all. Not even the highlights..

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link