Colourful Ecuador Travels

Placement organization

Name of organization: Colourful Ecuador Travels
Town/city: Quito
Country: Ecuador

Student

Name of student: Renske Heesakkers

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

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: DMC
Organization’s activities: B2B, specialised in creating tours around Ecuador and the Galapagos. Organising volunteer work and Spanish classes.
Target group of the organization: From students to couples to groups
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 30
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 and Communication

Brief description of your daily activities: Updating and gathering information about hotels, destinations and tours. Posting on the social media channels. Blogging. Organising cocktail for new students and volunteers. Creating vouchers with the travel program for volunteers.
Brief description of your company assignment: Improving the MailChimp marketing.

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Sylvie, from Belgium, was my supervisor in the organisation. She is a very caring and organised person, unlike Ecuadorian people. So things are quite organised in the marketing department.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, representable, social, flexible, teamplayer, willing to learn
Additional company requirements for this placement? Writing skills, Photoshop is appriciated
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
Other languages: Although some of the employees do speak English, many people don’t. So the better your Spanish is, the better your experience will be.

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, the office is in front of the student house

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? You can extend your tourist visa after 90 days to receive 90 more 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?

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? Yes

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € Depends on the time of the year
Accommodation (monthly): € 180
Local transport (monthly): € Depends on how much you’d like to travel. Busses to other cities cost approximatly €1 per hour on the bus.
General costs of living (monthly): € €20 – €30
Costs of visa: € approximately €130
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? – Discount on accommodation
– 2 weeks of Spanish classes

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I personally never prepare for a culture, but a big part of adapting in Ecuador is speaking the Spanish language, as barely anyone speaks English.
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: r.heesakkers@hotmail.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be really careful with your belongings especially in crowded places and in public transport and don’t wear your most beautiful and expensive jewelry, you don’t want to get robbed.

And enjoy your stay! Ecuador is beautiful and divers!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: The possibilities are endless! I traveled almost every weekend to a different place, and every place in Ecuador is completely different. One weekend you will be in the Amazon and another weekend you will see whales jumping out of the water. I cannot tell you what my favorite place is, because all were so special on their own. At your placement, you will learn about all the beautiful places, so take some inspiration from that!

Some of my personal favourites are:
– Puerto Lopez
– Mompiche
– Cuyabeno
– Mindo
– Intag
– Cuicocha
– Cuenca
– The Galapagos

Media