Nuevo Mundo Expeditions

Placement organization

Name of organization: Nuevo Mundo Expeditions
Town/city: Quito
Country: Ecuador
Website: http://nuevomundeexpeditions.com

Name of student: Colin Franke

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: Nuevo Mundo facilitates (mostly customised) tours in Ecuador and Peru for upper-class travellers.
Target group of the organization: mostly luxury travellers
Company culture: Family business, relatively informal company culture
Number of employees: 5
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? more or less

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing
Brief description of your daily activities: Working on new website, identifying ways to reach new clients outside traditional channels
Brief description of your company assignment: Analysing the business environment for Tourism in Quito
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor is always ready for assisance in any way and is very knowledgable about the tourism environment of Ecuador.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, flexible, open-minded
Additional company requirements for this placement? Writing skills, MS Office,
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? The company arranged a place to stay, but was free to decide if I wanted to stay. Eventually found an apartment with a friend online.
How did you go to work every day? by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Visa 12IX. A six month student visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Website of the embassy did not work, so I had to visit the embassy in The Hague to arrange everything.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? approximately 2 weeks
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 3 months

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? For working in this company it is not completely necessary since everyone speaks English properly. However, for life outside of work it is useful to have a certain level of Spanish proficiency

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €730 (Amsterdam – Quito, Lima – Amsterdam)
Accommodation (monthly): € €290
Local transport (monthly): € €30
General costs of living (monthly): € €400
Costs of visa: € €400
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? There is no financial compensation or compensation in terms of accommodation. However, makes this company interesting nevertheless is the fact that they will send you on trips. Some examples of where I have been are the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve and Yasuní National Park, which are both located in the amazon basin of Ecuador and are considered the most biodiverse places in the world.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
In my opninion, the best preparation is to just be open-minded in your first weeks. This is the best way to experience the culture and you will learn as you go. It helps if you are at the destination a little before your placement starts.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes. My Dutch punctuality sometimes resulted in me being the only one at the office, while I had to wait for the others. By now I have gotten used to it.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 143530@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: I would advise you to take the initial offer of accomodation that the company offers, even if you would like to live somewhere else. I have experienced it is relatively easy to find accomodation once you are at the destination. The city is stretched over 60 kilometers so be careful about the distances. Once you are at the destination you’ll notice that the people you work with will encourage you to see as much of the country as possible. Travelling by bus is cheap so please take the opportunity! Ecuador has a lot to offer within relatively small distances.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The amount of possibilities is endless, but here are some of my favourites:

Within Quito:
Centro Historico – Old centre with a lot of museums, churches and other colonial buildings
La Mariscal – This area is the area with a lot of nightlife (bungalow 6 is where all backpackers mingle with locals)
Pichincha – Right next to the city is a perfect possibility of climbing a volcano of approximately 4700 meters

Outside Quito:
Mindo – 2 hours from Quito there is a little village in the middle of the cloud forrest. Great atmosphere and lots of adventure activities
Baños de Agua Santa – a little further away (4 hours) but paradise for the adventure traveler
Multiple different Volcanoes like Cotopaxi, Antisana, Iliniza and more

The list could be endless, but you will figure it out once you are here!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link