Responsible Travel Peru

Placement organization

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

Name of student: Kari Sømme

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: RESPONS works with around 70 local communities all over Peru to offer travelers and tourism companies the best and most authentic trips. They offer not only community-based tourism but a wide array of travel experiences of all kinds, however always with a focus on sustainability. They can be seen as the bridge between the tourism sector and community-based projects. RESPONS is able to represent communities to tour operators and assist them with marketing their products and assisting tour operators in the logistics and organization.
Target group of the organization: They want mainly adventurous, environmentally concious travellers, but also cater for main stream travellers who want to see Machu Picchu.
Company culture: The company culture is very informal. For example, we laugh and have fun and listen to music in the office, we have lunch together. There is one “head of the office”, but she is very much part of the team, flexible and understanding.
Number of employees: 15
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I am working in the sales department.
Brief description of your daily activities: My daily activities consist of answering requests that come to us by email, making the custom itineraries for the trips they want. Then, communication goes back and forth, until they know if they want to buy the trip or not, When clients arrive I often have to go to their hotel and meet them to give them their tickets, go over the itinerary with them, answer all their questions and collect the money they still have to pay us.
I am also doing some translations of texts for the company blog, and I help my colleagues out with correcting their emails, when they are not sure how to respond to people in English.
Occasionally I am asked to accompany groups of tourists on their trip to translate for them, which is a lot of fun.
Brief description of your company assignment: For my company assignment, I’ve been in charge of analysing the collaboration we have with a specific hotel chain. I’ve been looking at all the expenses and income we’ve had as a result of this collaboration, and analysing if it has been beneficial to us in the long run or not. It was quite interesting, because the results helped the management to make some decisions and alterations in how we collaborate with them, which will help the company financially.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Honestly, I am disappointed by the company supervision.
Many of my colleagues have quit recently, for personal reasons, and the people who are left in the sales department are over-worked and haven’t had time to train me properly, or to supervise my work. It has caused me some stressful periods at work.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Flexible, team worker, stress-proof, computer literate, people skills
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel
English: Advanced
Spanish: Advanced
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No visa needed
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? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1000
Accommodation (monthly): € 100 – 230
Local transport (monthly): € 20
General costs of living (monthly): € 150 – 200
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? The company paid 350 soles (100 euros) per month for accommodation, and half of the expenses for Spanish classes during the first few weeks.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I didn’t know what to expect – there is really no way of preparing for it. Be prepared that life is slower here, things are not necessarily organized the way you are used to back home, you cannot find all the things you want to buy for example. Things in general are very informal, which can both be good and bad. One thing is for certain; you need some time to adapt to the way things work here, but once you start finding your place and become comfortable with certain things, you can live very comfortably here.
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: kari.somme@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Arrive a few days before starting work so you can acclimatize.
Bring warm clothes, Cusco is high up in the mountains! But also bring light clothes, and STRONG mosquito repellent for trips to the rainforest etc.
Underwear of decent quality is hard to find for both men and women, so bring enough with you.
If you are planning to do a lot of hiking (which you should), better bring your own hiking boots, although these can be rented in many shops here in Cusco, they might not be a good fit.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are soo many things to do around Cusco, for those who like being out in the nature this place is great. Mountain biking, so many beautiful treks, hot thermal water pools, the tropical jungle is a few hours away by car etc. You can visit coffee plantations, llama breeders..
Cusco itself has a beautiful historic quarter, and many good restaurants, yoga places, archaeological sites etc.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link