Asian Heritage Treks and Travel

Placement organization

Name of organization: Asian Heritage Treks and Travel
Town/city: Kathmandu
Country: Nepal
Website: https://www.asianheritagetreks.com/

Student

Name of student: Plabon Alam

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

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator/Agent
Organization’s activities: The company offers a wide range of tours and treks in Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet. They create custom made trips for their (mostly European) target group and offer set tour packages. Furthermore, they operate with their sister company, Asian Heritage Travel, which is located in the Netherlands and offers tours throughout central and south east Asia.
Target group of the organization: middle class Europena tourists. However, they don’t have a clear target group since they target all tourists coming to Nepal

Company culture: The Company culture is quite relaxed. The team leader (also the boss) is in charge and most of the decisions have to be discussed with him but responsibility and initiative of the intern are highly appreciated.
The Nepalese working environment is relaxed and although they work a lot and make long days, one does not have to work too much for what their capable of or to a point which causes stress.
The clothing standard is casual (smart) but not very strict (long pants and sweater is okay, short pants is not).
Number of employees: 18
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
Sustainability assistant

Brief description of your daily activities: The daily activities consist of updating the website content, replying on travel inquiries, social media marketing management, assisting in technical support and creating blogs and other content for the website.

Brief description of your company assignment: Making an online content plan and increasing booking post covid-19 by means of email marketing. Getting Travelife certification.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision is not that strict. You have to be pro-active in getting work and finishing said work.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, Social, Flexible, Team Player
Additional company requirements for this placement? Ms Office, SEO
English: Advanced

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? First by means of AirBnB and later by making local connections. The company can help with the latter
How did you go to work every day? Walking

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? yes.
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: On arrival
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 15 mins
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

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): € 700
Accommodation (monthly): € 200
Local transport (monthly): € 40
General costs of living (monthly): € 250
Costs of visa: € 250
Costs of work permit: € 00
What did the company pay for/to you? No financial compensation. It was agreed that I would be able to go on a trip that was on the package list of the company but due to the COVID-19 it won be possible anymore.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I watched YT videos on Nepal. Read news about Nepal. Went on different online groups to get more insight on what Nepal was all about.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Not necessarily

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 152204@buas.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be a good person. Dont break the law. Be respectful and mindful of your surroundings. Keep and open mind and have fun. The people in Nepal are very colorful, both locals and the tourists. Watch out what you eat and where you eat. Hygiene was a great concern for me. Carry cash and travel docs.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are so many places to visit in Kathmandu alone. The first couple weekends you can go around in the capital and tick those things off. You can also ask for extended weekends to go out of the capital and visit rural places. Make arrangements with the company.

Media