EcoCircuitos Panama

Placement organization

Name of organization: EcoCircuitos Panama
Town/city: Panama City
Country: Panama
Website: http://www.ecocircuitos.com

Student

Name of student: Jiske Schaling

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Promoting and selling custom-made tours and packages in Panama, with respect to eco and sustainable tourism
Target group of the organization: Middle class and high end tourists, mainly from US, Canada and UK with the age of 55 years and up
Company culture: The employees work in a big open office together, everyone has her / his own desk with computer. Thus there is a lot of verbal communication but a lot of information is also communicated by email. The atmosphere is relaxed (most of the times) and I was accepted as a normal member of the team
Number of employees: 5
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? no, because I did not get half a day of to work on my schoolassignment, but I worked on my school assignment whenever I did not have anything to do. You really have to remind Annie that you have half a day of to work on your assignment.

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Sales department, reservation department, operations department, (marketing department), accounting department.
Generally I worked in marketing and in high season in operations department, in low season wherever help is needed
Brief description of your daily activities: I helped with building the new website and with developing a new trip. Also in the operations department I wrote the itineraries & vouchers, I prepared information kits for new arriving clients amd in the sales department I wrote the proposals of itineraries and sometimes quoting packages
Brief description of your company assignment: Competitive Analysis for EcoCircuitos
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Annie is the supervisor, she is open-minded and cares a lot for her interns, when she is in the office she has always new tasks for you. However, often she is very busy, so you have to take initiative as well.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Flexible, independent, creative and take initiative
Additional company requirements for this placement? Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: any other language is helpful

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane (I arrived with Condor from Frankfurt, this was the cheapest option.

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The first night I slept in a hotel EcoCircuitos arranged for me. After that I stayed at hostel Los Mostros for a couple of nights. I really recommend you this hostel! I met a lot of fun people there with who I have been friends throughout my stay in Panama. I found my room on www. Encuentra24.com. Try to find a room in El Cangrejo or Punta Paitilla or somewhere in between.
How did you go to work every day? I go to work by bus. You can buy a bus cart at the busterminal and you can put money on it. It works like a OV chipkaart. It only cost 25 cents per ride.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No, only a tourism visa which you get upon arrival, valid for 180 days. If you plan to stay longer you have to leave the country for 72 hours and return again. Then you can stay for another 180 days
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: You only need a valid passport, enough financial means or credit card and a return ticket. You have to show your leaving the country when you arrive in Panama.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes

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? I did take additional lessons throughout the placement

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € approx. 750,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 350,00
Local transport (monthly): € 10,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 100,00 – 200,00
How long in advance did you apply for visa , I got mine 3 months before I left. Go to the GGD they know which vaccinations you will need.
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? EUR 150,00

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No, everybody here works really hard and is really serious whit their work. They are always on time and almost never sick or taking days off.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: jjschaling@yahoo.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: When I first arrived in Panama I was a little bit afraid because the stories people told me and because of the things I read, but it was all not true. I haven’t felt unsafe at all. Just don’t walk in the wrong areas or take a taxi in the middle of the night by yourself.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are a lot of malls! I prefer the Albrook mall. All the malls have cinemas and on wednesday it is half price at the cinemas so you will only pay $ 2,50. When you want to go out, go to casco viejo, calle uruguay or when you just want some drinks go to via argentina or the amador causeway. In the weekends you can take the ferry from the causeway to the island of Taboga. This only costs $ 13,00 or take the bus from the Albrook terminal to different beaches along he pacific. You have the feeling you are on holiday although it is just for one day! You have to go to San Blas for a couple of nights! San Blas has is beautiful! Also go to Boquete, Bocas del Toro or the area of Pedasi. Just go and visit as many places as possible!!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link