EcoColors Tours

Placement organization

Name of organization: EcoColors Tours
Town/city: Cancun
Country: Mexico
Website: https://ecotravelmexico.com/

Student

Name of student: Chrisje Meulendijks

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

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: EcoColors is a sustainable tour operator located in Cancun, Mexico and was founded in January 1997. The company gets its name from the array of colors nature displays in the forests, meadows, lagoons, and seas of tropical America. EcoColors designs and delivers ecotours in the “Mayan World”, both biologically and culturally one of the richest regions of the world. We offer a wide variety of itineraries of 1, 3, 7 or even more days which incorporate outstanding natural, cultural and adventure in the Riviera Maya and other parts of Mexico. Further, some tours are also operated in other parts of Central America such as Belize, Guatemala and even in Cuba. Our special strength is providing responsible travel in which you are able to see turtles, dolphins, whale sharks, flamingos, and much other great wildlife in their natural environment, along with artifacts from the ancient cultures and traditions of Mexico.
Target group of the organization: Differs per tour, mostly visitors from the USA.

Company culture: There is a hierarchy, but everyone is considered as equal and everyone’s opinion matter. Their mission: ‘Offer innovative and exclusive products in Ecotourism, Adventure tourism, and Environmental training through quality, warmth, and education; overcome the expectations of our clients, contributing to the environmental preservation and growth of human value (March 2012). ‘
Number of employees: 15-20
Dress code: uniform
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?
Marketing and Sales

Brief description of your daily activities:
– Make posts for social media (Facebook and Instagram)
– Make videos for YouTube and Instagram Stories (weekly)
– Carrying out a research about how to increase subscribers/views at YouTube
– Contact (online) travel agencies in order to establish a partnership
– Upload tours at online travel agencies

Brief description of your company assignment: Design a tour myself and make a marketing plan

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: At the office, I talked two-three times with the director (Kenneth) about my duties and progress. However, I leaved Mexico because of the coronavirus. Luckily, I am able to do my internship at home. Now I have daily contact with my colleague Andrea and weekly with Kenneth.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? Nothing specific, but it is handy to know Spanish
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Basic

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Previous students
How did you go to work every day? Shuttle service of the company (free)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
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? I already had them. Make sure you do your vaccinations as soon as you know you are going abroad and consult the GGD about which ones

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? I would recommend to learn some basic Spanish before you leave

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 700
Accommodation (monthly): € 380, but can be cheaper in the house where I lived. Ranging from 250 to 380 euros
Local transport (monthly): € Depends on how much you travel. Bus to Hotel Zone is 1 euro (retour), and taxi fares are also cheap. To reach many destinations around the house (within 10 minutes), you would pay 2-4 euros for taxi.
General costs of living (monthly): € 500-600
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of around 170 euros per month.
Transport included.
There is lunch made every day, for a price of 7,50 you had lunch for 5 days. Definitely would try that! I was scared that I did not like the food, so I brought a package of noodles every day to be sure. In the end, I tried and liked everything

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Start with learning the language. Did not really prepare for the culture, but checked out what to do in the area. One thing I was concerned about tho, was the violence and safety in Cancun. Luckily, I did not experienced anything bad or where I felt unsafe.
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: chrisjemeulendijks@kpnmail.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do:
– Playa del Carmen, stay there for the weekend in a hostel and go out!
– Tulum
– Bacalar
– Isla Mujeres
– Isla Holbox
– Chichen Itza
– Merida
– Chiapas (by airplane)
– Valladolid

I have not been to all places because of my early departure, but I heard that those are worth visiting!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: I did bachata and salsa class every Wednesday at Salsamba.
Going out is really nice in Cancun! For the local spots, go to: Distrito Cavana or Chantant. The tourist spots are all in the hotel zone, but I have not been there.

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