Asian Heritage Treks & Expeditions

Placement organization

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

Name of student: Kira van Haaren

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: The organization is a young, professional, dynamic and provides a personalized customer-centric service experience. They offer a wide variety of products ranging from day activities to completely tailor-made treks in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and India. Their customers share the passion for active travel, cultural immersion and sustainable and socially responsible tourism.

Target group of the organization: Major part of their clients are from European countries, especially from the Netherlands.
Company culture: In this company you mostly work as a consultant. The company asks you 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: 1. Planning and marketing
2. Quality management, by feedback forms
3. Sustainable tourism, keeping the sustainability of the company high.
4. Translating the website to Dutch
Brief description of your company assignment: A strategic and tactical marketing. This covers the following points:
• Quality test among the customers
• Promotion Plan (magazines and Dutch translation of the site)
• Planning and marketing (short, mid and long term plan)
• Sustainability Analysis

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor is a talented Nepalese business man with a 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. They will help you with any kind of problem.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, very flexible and know that it’s a total different environment
Additional company requirements for this placement? Must: MS Office. Preferably: SEO, HTML, SPSS
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
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, tourist visa
Do you need a work permit? No, officialy you may not work in Nepal.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: At arrival
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 10 minutes (in lowseason)
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 2 months, I took Rabies and that takes 4 weeks

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? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € € 700,-
Accommodation (monthly): € € 225,-
Local transport (monthly): € –
General costs of living (monthly): € For food and drinks, about € 150 till € 200
Costs of visa: € € 180,-
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing, only discount on the apartment. And for tours and treks you can go for the purchase price. On work you get lunch. And by arrival they will pay for the taxi.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Read books about the country and talked with friends who have been there. I also spoke with a former intern. And my lesson was: don’t expect to much. It is a beautiful country and the people are really kind.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes. They work in a totally different way, so you have to find a way to you need to find a way to handle both at the same time, the Dutch and the Nepali way. They don’t have a structural way of working, which can be confusing. Don’t expect that they will do things directly, it can take some time, but they will do it.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 112959@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: It is an amazing experience. The experience to be on your own in a foreign country, that is totally different , is really worth it. You will learn so much by being there. 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 see as much as possible of the country. You will also learn more about how everything works in practice and helps you with your assignment. It is a beautiful country and the people are really kind.

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 enjoy your time in Nepal without the luxurious western facilities. There are many nice things to do in Thamel. There are many festivals, that you can enjoy.

In the weekends it is nice to escape the city and explore the Kathmandu valley, Chitwan,the Himalayas or do something adventurous, like rafting or canyoning.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link