Asian Heritage Treks & Expeditions

Placement organization

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

Student

Name of student: Ovidiu Tulpan

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: The company has 15 years of experience behind, offering adventure activities, day hike tours, spiritual and pilgrimage tours, multi-day tailor-made tours and expeditions. It operates mainly in Nepal, India, Bhutan and Tibet. Their customers share the passion for active travel, cultural immersion and sustainable and socially responsible tourism.
Target group of the organization: Mainly Western European countries with Netherlands being the biggest market, but also North America, Gulf countries and Australia
Company culture: The culture of the company is informal, a relaxed and pleasant environment. In this company you mostly work as a consultant. The company asks you to give them advice on quality management, marketing, sustainability, 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: 6
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
4. Account management
Brief description of your company assignment: Create a marketing plan
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor is also the owner of the company, a very business-orientated and creative person. He helped me in any matter, job-related or personal, and he was open to every suggestion or idea that I came up with for the company.

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, writing skills, SEO | Will be a plus: Photoshop, Illustrator
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? 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: Got visa at arrival on the airport
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 30 minutes
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 2 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? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 600
Accommodation (monthly): € 250 (for a very clean and spacious place)
Local transport (monthly): € 0
General costs of living (monthly): € 150
Costs of visa: € 180 (needs to be renewed twice after the third month)
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Only discount on the apartment and for some tours and treks that I went to. At office you get lunch and upon arrival and departure they will pick you up and drop you off at the airport.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Talked with former interns and read about the country.
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 European 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: 152791@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: The overall experience is an amazing one. Try to be open to the new things you met and get in contact with while here, and enjoy it as much as possible, even if sometimes it can be totally different from everything that you are used to.
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 basic circumstances. Take initiative, work independent and you will see that the work experience is worth it.
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.
Pay attention to the places you eat, to look hygienic and clean.
You will be asked to bring your own laptop at work as the computers in the office are not so good.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The office is located in Thamel, the tourism hearth of Kathmandu. You will find many bars, shops and restaurants here, a very lively place. You will have the possibility to make a lot of friends as the area is mainly a leisure one and everyone is friendly and nice. Also there are many festivals, that you can enjoy during your stay here.

In the weekends or when taking some longer period of free time it is nice to escape the very crowded Kathmandu and explore the Kathmandu Valley, Chitwan National Park, Pokhara, the Himalayas or do something adventurous, like rafting, paragliding or canyoning.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link