Andean Travel Company

Placement organization

Name of organization: Andean Travel Company
Town/city: Quito
Country: Ecuador
Website: https://andeantc.com/

Student

Name of student: Lisa-Marie Reiss

Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2019-2020

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: DMC
Organization’s activities: Andean Travel Company is a family-owned, Ecuador-based DMC which was founded in 2001. The DMC is specialised on organizing FIT and group travel in mainland Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. They have their own fleet of yachts in the Galapagos. ATC is concentrated on business to business. The company is dedicated to run memorable,
life-enriching travel experiences for their client’s customers. The core values of the company are integrity and loyalty, as they want to create long-term relationships with their clients. Innovative products and technology are also an important aspect.
Target group of the organization: Various
Company culture: The company culture is informal and friendly. Everybody is calling each other by their first names and every first friday all birthdays of the month are celebrated with food and beers.
Number of employees: 50
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 & Sales

Brief description of your daily activities:
– creating detailed day-to-day descriptions based on Quotes
– contacting guides to make sure that they send me the customer satisfaction questionnaires on time & putting these into the system
– proofreading
– writing informative texts about destinations and tourism products
– market research
– assisting with database filtering and updating and agendas

Brief description of your company assignment: I research and assist in the planning of further developing of ATC’s market share in the Nordic countries. In the framework of this market research the following countries are considered:
• Norway
• Sweden
• Finland
• Denmark
• Iceland

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I am usually working independently but if I have questions, I can always ask my colleagues for support.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, sociable, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills
English: Advanced

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? I live in the company building

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? tourist Visa -> renew after 3 months
Do you need a work permit? depends
How did you arrange the necessary documents: servicio de apoya migracion
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1 hour
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 6 weeks

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? The better your Spanish is, the easier it will be to communicate with colleagues and also help with some assignments. I never had Spanish classes before coming to South America and the 2-weeks intensive course helped a lot to be able to have basic conversations.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 830 (Berlin-Medellín, Quito-Berlin)
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 100 (including ubers & buses for weekend trips)
General costs of living (monthly): € 200 (including 2 weekend trips/ month)
Costs of visa: € 130
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? free accommodation in the company building, lunch during work days, 200$ per month

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
As soon as I knew I am going to Ecuador, I started learning Spanish. Otherwise I did not really prepare, as I already travelled a lot and lived in different countries and I am used to adapting to other cultures.
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: 171996@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Ecuador is a beautiful country with so much to explore. Make the most of your weekends and travel around. Within one weekend you can be at the coast, in the jungle or in the mountains! If you get the chance arrive earlier or stay longer than your internship, to be able to explore more.

Keep your belongings close and avoid walking around the old town after dark. Even in “safe” areas it is better to take an uber or cabify (which are cheap here) late at night.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Quito is a big city with lots of leisure possibilities such as cinemas, bars, clubs, swimming pools, gyms (rather expensive), parks… The UNESCO world heritage old town is a great place to explore during the day and the bohemian neighbourhoods of La Floresta and Guapolo are also definitely worth a visit.

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