Pure! Ecuador / Pure! Travel Group

Placement organization

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

Student

Name of student: Femke Gorissen

Specialist area: Associate degree
Placement period: 2019-2020

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: B2B touroperator
Organization’s activities: Pure! travel group is a B2B touroperator in Latin America. Besides the main office in Ecuador they also have offices in Colombia, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Social and environmental responsibility is part of the DNA and they create tailor made travel experiences with respect for nature, heritage, and local cultures.
Target group of the organization: Travel agencies
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 26
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 Department

Brief description of your daily activities:
– Writing the monthly external newsletters and holidays newsletter
– Updating the website
– Writing end of the year summaries
– Updating databases
– Writing and translating blogs
– Creating social media posts

Brief description of your company assignment: I wrote a report about implemeting a B2C travel platform for Ecuador
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Nadine (which is also dutch) supervised me during my internship.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Sociable and independent worker
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office and writing skills
English: Advanced

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself (recommended by my supervisor)
How did you go to work every day? Walking

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, student visa or tourist visa and extend it after 90 days
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? 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? Yes, if you dont speak spanish at all it is useful to take a language course in advance. I took spanish lessons here in Quito

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 900 Euro
Accommodation (monthly): € 250 Euro
Local transport (monthly): € City buses Quito 25 cents
General costs of living (monthly): € ?
Costs of visa: € Extention tourist visa 130 Euro
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? 300 US dollars a month and 4 times lunch a week

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Googled and talked with a former intern
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: femkegorissen@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do:
– Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: I recommend to travel to the coast (Montanita/Isla de la Plata/Mompiche), the Amazon (Cuyabeno), Cotopaxi and El Cajas National park (Cuenca) and places near Quito such as Otovalo, Banos and Mindo

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link