Pure! Ecuador

Placement organization

Name of organization: Pure! Ecuador
Town/city: Quito
Country: Ecuador
Website: http://www.pure-travelgroup.com

Student

Name of student: Inez Schoenmakers

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: Pure! Ecuador offers travel products and services focused on soft adventure, excursions, conventional travels and special interest travels. The variety of products and services is made for independent travelers, families and groups. Our local providers and service suppliers share the same concept as we do: highly personalized quality services based on responsible tourism managed in a professional way with a full commitment to a total client satisfaction. We offer a large range of tourism services including Galapagos Cruises, Adventure packages, Conventional tours, Special interest trips, Amazon Lodges, Hotels and Haciendas all throughout Ecuador. Everything we offer is based on tailor-made services to match your specific wishes. Based on evaluations and feedback of clients we keep on improving the quality of our products and services.
Target group of the organization: The world
Company culture: Pure! Ecuador is a part of the Pure! travel group which is owned by Bram Evers, a former NHTV tourism student. The office of Pure! Ecuador is located in the captal of Ecuador, Quito. The company culture is informal and you can dress up casual. Every day there is an active pause and one of the employees will arrange this. At this moment you will dance or play games with your colleges. Every month some employees are in charge of the social activities which include organizing an event and celebrate birthdays. During the lunch we all go to a restaurant in the street to eat.
Number of employees: 20
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing
Brief description of your daily activities: I am working in the marketing department but my tasks vary from day to day. I work on implementing the new system. Keep in contact with platforms and post our journeys. Write day to day descriptions for tailor made tours. Update the social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
Brief description of your company assignment: Determine which e-marketing tools to use and how to enter the market in the best possible way to ensure a higher occupancy rate for Pure! Ecuador.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I am supervised by Nadine (from the Netherlands), which is the former intern of the company and now permanently working at Pure! Ecuador. She probably will stay until September 2016. It is expected that you work very independently but when you have questions you can always ask.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, flexible, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, Excell, WordPress
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? Myself trough Facebook in the Quito rentals group
How did you go to work every day? Public transport

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? 12IX Visa which is valid for six months.
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: The Ecuadorian embassy in The Hague
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1 Month
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? Three months 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? It is useful to take Spanish classes. During the entire placement I took classes twice a week in the evening at Banana School. The private classes (one-to-one) costs $7,50 per hour. http://www.bananaspanish.com

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 800
Accommodation (monthly): € 175
Local transport (monthly): € 10 the bus costs $0,25
General costs of living (monthly): € 500
Costs of visa: € 160 ($200,-)
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation: $300,-
Meals: lunch

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare for the country’s culture.
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: inezschoenmakers@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: My recommendations for the placement is to travel to as many places as possible. The country has a lot to offer and makes it really easy to travel around. You should get to know the culture, taste the local dishes and learn to speak Spanish.

Besides that, during my placement eventhough it is a South-america Ecuador is safe compare to the other countries but you should also look after your personal belongings. Which I didn’t in the begining and my phone got stolen on the bus. In the evening I advise you to take a taxi which are really cheap to get safe to another place.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Ecuador has a great diversity and offers the amazon, coast, and mountains. From Quito, there are many day trip opportunities or weekend trips. If you love sport you are in the right place. You could find rafting, canyoning, zip line, horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, paragliding, surfing, kitesurfing and everything else you could think of. Ecuador has it all. Public transport will cost around one dollar per hour and it is easy to travel anywhere in the weekend. During my stay in Ecuador I have visited: Quilotoa, Otavalo, Cuicocha, Ibarra, Mitad del Mundo, Mindo, Banos (many times because it has so much to offer), Cotococha lodge, Canoa, Las Lajas and Pasto (Colombia).

During the week, I am taking Spanish classes two evenings at the Banana School with a really nice lady called Nancy. After my placement, I will travel to Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Also, I worked out with my supervisor we went to the pool once a week. In the weekend, I usually traveled or party in Quito.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link