Asian Heritage Treks & Expeditions

Placement organization

Name of organization: Asian Heritage Treks & Expeditions
Town/city: Kathmandu
Country: Nepal
Website: http://www.asianheritage.com.np

Student

Name of student: Jon Jonker

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2011-2012

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Arranging trekkings/tours/peak climbings in Nepal, India, Tibet, Bhutan
Target group of the organization: European Market, mostly Dutch
Company culture: In this company you mostly work as a consultant. The company asks to give them advice on quality management, marketing, public relations and general daily activities. The student will be provided with a desk in the sales office where he/she can work during the placement. Mostly 2 colleagues are working in the same office.
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? Sales & Marketing
Brief description of your daily activities: First week updating the database, reviewing feedback forms. After that Marketing assignments, financial assignments, pr assignments and quality management.
Brief description of your company assignment: The main assignment was to develop a market analysis and marketing plan for entering the Scandinavian market. Additional assignments where giving advice about their website, quality management and on how to maintain public relations.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor is a talented Nepalese business man with a very western way of thinking and working. He will help you at any time when necessary and wants to make your life in Nepal as comfortable as possible.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, Sociable, very flexible, being able to work in an Asian culture.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Must: Excel, Word and Internet. Preferably: SEO, HTML and basics of webdesign but not necessary
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Dutch is preferred, but not required

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The company provided me with accommodation for the whole period
How did you go to work every day? By foot (only 10 min walk)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: I bought a visa at arrival. (first 3 months = $100,- after that you can extent visa 2 times for $60 a month)
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? Preferably 3 months. Hep A+B, DTP, typhoid fever (buiktyfus) tuberculose check at GGD

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): € 550,00 / 600,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 0,00
Local transport (monthly): € 10,00 (only for leisure activities)
General costs of living (monthly): € 150,00 – 250,00
Costs of visa: € 170,00 (5 month tourist visa = max stay in Nepal)
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Accommodation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Spoke with former student and reading
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes, the Nepalese way of working is completely different than the western way and as a student you need to figure out a way to handle both at the same time. For example: Making big reports are invaluable for Nepalese companies, but for NHTV a must. Besides, most Nepalese companies don’t have a structural way of working which can be confusing for western students.

Future students on placement

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

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Being in Nepal for your placement will give you an amazing experience about cultural differences and challenging yourself. Do not expect to gain much knowledge about the tourism industry and theoretical practices, but expect to learn how to work in a totally different environment with sometimes primitive circumstances.

Try to explore the Nepalese culture as much as possible and try to go trekking in the Himalayas one or two times during your placement. This certainly will give you a way better insight in your placement assignments.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The company and apartment are located in Thamel, the tourism hearth of Kathmandu. You will find many bars, shops and restaurants here. Do not expect to find many Western entertainment facilities and western shops but try to meet many new friends and figure out a way to entertain yourself without the luxurious western facilities.

In the weekends it is nice to escape the city and explore the Kathmandu valley, Chitwan or the Himalayas.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link