Travel Company Profile: Wanderlust Expediciones
Experience
1. How long have you been in the business and how many travelers do you take care of each year?
REPLY: Wanderlust Expediciones opened on 2007, however most of us have been working at
Incoming Tourism for around 15 years.
2. Who will be our key contact person in your organization? How long have they been in the
travel industry and what is their background?
REPLY: During the organization of the trip Laura Rottgardt will be the contact person. With a
degree in Tourism from Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, she has been working in the
tourism industry for over twenty years.
Once the group is travelling in Argentina we will cater at each location an exclusive local host
from our office to show visitors around, introduce them to the area they are visiting, give
advice and, be a source of information as their local contact. This local host will be aware of
your company profile and expectations in order to ensure that we all follow the same
guideline from the very beginning till the end of the trip. We will let you know about this
further on and well as introduce our hosts to you.
3. Who are the principals of the company and what is their background?
REPLY: Hebe Cafferata With a degree of tourism from one of the longest running Universities
in Buenos Aires, and a Post graduate course in Italy sponsored by the WTO, Hebe has
dedicated to tourism through her career. She worked in sales and product development,
teaches at Business Schools and also does some consultancy related to product development
and hotel business.
4. Can you provide past client references?
REPLY: We may indicate some of our clients:
Inca Floats, Latin American Escapes, Latin Excursions, Southern Explorations, South American
Expeditions SA, Wilderness Travel; All of the in the US:
In Europe we work with such organizations as: Otro Mundo (Switzerland), ITG Group (The
Netherlands), Cosmic Travel (Belgium); Jacada Travel (UK), Red Savannah (UK).
Financial Strength
1. What assurances do you provide to protect the traveler’s investment?
a. Please supply business and banking references.
REPLY: References: Bank References – ICBC Bank in Argentina. Mr Mariano
Guaglianone (Head Account Manager).
LLao LLao Hotel, Resort & Spa – Ms Ana Carla Polla, Sales and Marketing Director
Bop Alliance (Best of Patagonia Alliance), Mr Juan Pedriel, head of the Sales Office.
Alvear Palace Hotels & Residences – Mr Jose Sutton, director and owner.
b. Please provide a list of your company’s travel industry memberships and affiliations.
We are affiliated to:
REPLY: RTR – Red de Turismo Sustentable. Sustainable Tourism Network in Argentina
CAT – Camara Argentina de Turismo – Argentine Chamber of Tourism.
c. Is your company a participant in a seller of travel/consumer protection program.
REPLY: There is no such program in Argentina, although by being part of the RTR we
support and follow the free & Honest trade rules.
Operations
1. How is the educational component delivered on your tours?
REPLY; The team of guides we work with are all trained, not only in first aid assistance and
also in the local information but also we hire those guides that have a background other than
tourism. Our team of guides in Buenos Aires are mostly of such professions as: literature and
philosophy, a professor of history, an archaeologist, a naturalist, a counselor, two experts in
arts. So they bring in this background to the tours and activities we deliver in the city. We
replicate this model in most of the areas of Argentina.
2. What is the typical caliber of your leaders? Please provide leader references.
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REPLY: A committed, trained and motivated group of guides –of various backgrounds – arts,
philosophy and literature, archaeology, anthropology, counseling, mountain climbing, who willingly
will share their views and experiences as well as their knowledge of Argentina.
Some of our leaders are:
CAROLINA GRACEY. Therapist, story-teller and artisan, in tourism business since 1988 and guiding
since 2000. She enjoys the one-to-one-person encounter of small groups which allow a deeper
understanding of each others´ culture. Carolina has created the Weaving our Stories trip in which we
trace the roots of textiles in Argentina in Northern Argentina while learning and sharing experiences
with local artists; certainly a must do experience.
BERNI DE NEGRI (Maria Bernardita De Negri). Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Berni graduated at
Business Management School, and built up a career in the travel industry.
She has a passion for travel, both to the great outdoors and in search of different experiences and
cultures. Committed to the development of environmentally and culturally responsible tourism in
Latin America, she is a member of "Aves Argentinas" organization (Birdlife International partner),
where she is currently training at their Naturalism School.
In the past years she has become a local guide in Buenos Aires, and she also escorts small groups to
Patagonia, Northwestern Argentina, Peru & Bolivia.
She enjoys photography, active sports and reading travelogues, and has a bubbly and curious
personality.
STELLA FRANGO. During her working life she has become a passionate naturalist being the President
of the Ribera Norte Friend’s Association, a non profit organization involved in the conservation of this
Nature Reserve (protecting the last natural stretches of the coast of the Rio de la Plata). She is very
knowledgeable in native plants, natural environments, and leads our Garden Tours in Buenos Aires.
She is an amateur birdwatcher.
She has unfinished studies in Arts which she combines with her experience with nature, making really
interesting visits of Gardens of Buenos Aires, Nature Walks, Trees of Buenos Aires to mention but a
few.
3. What type of educational materials do you provide travelers prior to departure?
REPLY: We provide general info about Argentina as well as info about each area to be visited. Please
find enclosed an example of one of those dossiers which we produce in our office.
4. Does your company subcontract for services in the field? If so, what are the credentials of your
subcontractor(s)?
REPLY. We support local guides and ventures, so we work with a network of local guides and small
ventures throughout Argentina which allow us to create the most interesting yet unique itineraries to
traditional and non traditional destinations. Due to our guides´ skills we are able to fulfill the wide
array of expectations and interests of our visitors be it mountain climbing, hiking, trekking, weaving,
ancient cultures, sightseeing, photography, gastronomy, etc.
5. What type of experience does your guides/field staff have? What type of certifications,
qualifications, training, etc. do they have?
Same as answer number 2
6. Do you provide in-house air ticketing services?
REPLY: We may assist clients with domestic flights. However tickets issued abroad are less expensive
since a part of the tax (around 10%) is not charged.
7. Do you have a risk management plan?
a. Do you have 24-hour on call operations staff?
REPLY: We have a mobile phone for emergencies available 24hours (549(911) 5257
7896 and a mail address which we receive immediately:
wanderlustguardia@yahoo.com.ar
b. Does your field staff carry radios, phones, etc.?
REPLY. Most of the guides carry mobile phones and VHF radios when in the field.
c. Do you provide 24-hour on call physician staffed medical assistance and evacuation
coverage for every trip participant?
REPLY: In each area we work, the local guides / companies have the arrangements and
first aid plans for assistance and evacuation to get the clients to the closest medical
center where they can get the first assistance. While this is going on we contact the
client`s insurance and brief them so they can take over from there.
Do you have a formal medical policy concerning the screening of prospective trip
members?
REPLY: We normally use the agency`s med forms but we have our own if we do not
receive them. Med forms are part of the policy when booking and receiving a group.
d. Do you have a policy concerning medical care delivered during a trip and the usage of
certain types of medical equipment (e.g., Gamov hyperbaric bags for trips going to
altitude)? What kinds of health education materials do you provide each traveler?
REPLY: We provide special medical information or requirements when traveling to
remote areas or places where there might be –for instance - altitude sickness, etc.
8. Do you have a social and environmental business practices operating policy?
REPLY: While being part of the RTR there are some environmentally friendly practices that we
use in the office and within the company. Every year we set a challenge we need to fulfill
whether it be changing light bulbs, the air conditioning system, etc. This is a process we have
started about 4 years ago.
9. What materials and guidelines do you provide for your clients, either prior to departure or
during the trip, to help them minimize the environmental and cultural impact of their visit?
REPLY: This is normally contained on the pre-departure information and also by our guides;
we do not engage in such activities – even if popular- that have an impact.
10. How do you monitor the operations of your in-country operators regarding their environmental
and cultural practices?
REPLY: By including satisfaction forms from the clients and when our guides visit the different
areas with groups.
11. Does your company encourage travelers to become personally involved in the
conservation/preservation of the areas they visit? If so how?
REPLY: This is something that we need to address strongly; if we get a request to visit or
participate in some specific project or would like to do some social work, we can easily
arrange that.
12. What are the main obstacles that you find in minimizing the environmental impact of your
business?
REPLY: The main obstacles are: education and also practices; we believe that tourism should
be –by nature – sustainable, because we need to take care of our raw material to deliver a
product, but sometimes practices do not consider this.
13. What environmental issues do you currently face with your tours, or in the areas that you visit?
REPLY: Environmental management I would say. Some areas receive a big amount of travelers
with no control and in some places, the lack of diversification of trails result in areas with an
intense use which in turn damages them; Another issue is that there are little or no practices
as to cultural impact and development, which is an interesting discussion we need to start.
Marketing Support
Can you offer assistance in the development of marketing and advertising materials (copywriting,
design, artwork/photography, production and printing)?
REPLY: We have a good amount of photographs and literature. No problem there.
Insurance/Legal
1. Do you have a pro-forma letter of agreement or memorandum of understanding?
REPLY: When you receive the group confirmation you will receive the terms and conditions
and also a pro-forma invoice.
2. What are your terms and conditions? What are your terms in the event of a Department of State
advisory/warning?
REPLY: We normally produce newsletters in which we address the situation in Argentina; we
try to be as accurate as possible and of course offer our information and experience in
handling these kinds of situations.
3. What are the upper limits of your liability insurance coverage?
REPLY. As a Travel Company we are fully licensed to work and operate in Argentina. We have
an insurance, which is required by the Tourism Authority; then we have each insurance from
our subcontractors (hotels and transportation). To give you an example the transportation
insurance is a maximum of AR$ 10,000,000.- (which is almost U$S 100,00.- approx).
4. Can you add our organization as an additional insured to your policy? Please provide a copy
of your current certificate of liability.
REPLY. Please kindly note that there is no product in Argentina as a liability risk. We are
working with the insurance companies to develop one but so far there is none. We have all
the insurances that we need to operate in Argentina as a company but nothing specific to
tourism.
So, as said, we have our license provided by the Tourism Authority in Argentina and work with
fully licensed and authorized companies and guides in Argentina.
5. How detailed is your Limitation of Liability and Assumption of Risk statement? Can you add
our organization to this form? Please provide a copy.