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Our people

MANAIKHAN

Gobi Gua Undur was created between the partnership of me (Jess) of Eternal Landscapes Mongolia and Turuu – my Mongolian business partner.

Gobi Gua Undur is our 100% Mongolian company – physically and culturally- with the emphasis on promoting a greater travel approach to benefit everyone involved, leading to a more positive and personal style of experience for all concerned. As a business working in tourism we have a responsibility to help combat problems including those created by tourism itself. 

We never wanted to compete directly with our competitors who try and capture a bigger market. We are comfortable with not trying to be all things to all people. To say this is us. This is what we stand for. This is what we believe in. We believe that our philosophy helps create positive social change in Mongolia. 

We employ only female Mongolian trip assistants

We don’t source the best female guides that work the tourism circuit and that already have guaranteed work with other companies. Instead, we provide long-term training and development opportunities to Mongolian women that want to work in tourism but other companies won’t take as they don’t fit the stereotype or don’t have the professional qualifications. We know the personal reasons as to why each member wants to work in tourism but whether they want a future in tourism doesn’t matter … what’s important are the personal reasons as to why and what they can bring to us as a team and company.

I have seen an increase in confidence and self-esteem within my female team as well as an increase in their personal freedom and an element of economic empowerment.

And I personally believe that seeing women in independent positions is surely one of the best ways to inspire younger girls within the rural communities of Mongolia, and to let them understand that they can do the same.

And the future? Continue to invest in my trip assistants so they can develop their personal ambitions, for us to provide an opportunity for women to experience adventure and for them to realize their full potential, benefiting not only the women themselves but also the wider community.

We don’t employ the best

We don’t employ the best. Instead, we provide training and support to those that want the opportunity to aim to be the best they can be. We invest in our team and call ourselves manaikhan – ours or our people in Mongolian.

We’re all human and we all make mistakes but when our team do make mistakes we (Turuu and I) take full responsibility for them. When EL  was first created, it was just Turuu and I as driver and guide. It was easier then as it meant we could micro manage. But. We wanted to put more back into Mongolia. And we’re proud of our commitment to making a positive difference through tourism in Mongolia.

Without mistakes we cannot learn, strengthen and develop. Making a mistake helps to make us stronger and better in the long run. Making mistakes actually means we are doing something. Accomplishing something. Trying something. We often make mistakes when we are pushing ourselves and outside our comfort zone – I see that as a good thing. That we have been brave enough to go outside our comfort zone and try something.

We support, encourage and believe that our philosophy does make a positive difference in Mongolia.

We provide opportunities for traditional Mongolian males

We only employ 10 drivers and we know each one and their family personally.

They are not modern city men – they are more traditional men – often now overlooked by other tour companies who prefer younger more international Mongolians who speak English.  We wanted to provide equal opportunities and so as our trip assistants are female and typically younger with a more modern outlook, so our drivers are all male, older and from more traditional backgrounds. We find it is a partnership that works well.

Our ‘boys’ have superb driving skills, are expert mechanics and are supremely talented at the skill of ‘mongolclokh’ – improvising the Mongolian way. They are of the strong and silent type but take the time to know them and you’ll see why we employ them and why they are an essential part of our EL family.

We create long-term local community parnerships

We’re more than just a standard tour company focusing on profit. We look to make sure our work benefits the local people and communities of Mongolia as much as it benefits our guests and us as a business. We focus on creating local community partnerships that offer long-term support to the people we work with countrywide and that also allow us to showcase the diversity of skills and knowledge of Mongolian’s in the 21st Century.

Our friendships with the local people of Mongolia are genuine friendships – forged over time (no point in rushing!), mainly with tea and sometimes with vodka. We go out and meet people. We get to know them – to learn about their lives and their needs – without beinginvasive. These are real people with real lives to lead.

We don’t ask them tochange their daily schedule or to put on an ‘act’. We know the stresses and the strains they face. We know their strengths and weakness. We know their likes and dislikes.They are much as part of our team and the EL family as we are.

And having shared the tea we look at ways we can incorporate their skills and knowledge into our experiences … encouraging their own sense of enterprise, as well as local Mongolian customs and culture.

We work side by side with each family and our support goes further than just paying for accommodation. Our experiences are put together in a way which benefits and supports each family, rather than disrupting their lives – for each visit we give each family what we call a sustainable payment for their time as well as services. As part of this we don’t stop working with families just because their circumstances change … instead we  look at alternative ways in which we can work with them.

We break down stereotypes and clichés

Here in Mongolia, tourism companies continue to perpetuate the stereotypes of it as a country full of nomads in an untouched land where life hasn’t changed since the time of Chinggis Khan. But, modern Mongolia is a diverse and dynamic country that deserves to be explored beyond its clichés and stereotypes.

A new national identity is being forged in Mongolia as part of our globalised world and there is a drive for modernity. The Mongolian flag itself represents progress and prosperity, and Mongolia is a country of aspiration and ambition. However, change and adaptation have long been a part of Mongolian culture and there remains a strong sense of a national identity and western influences blend with Mongolia’s unique cultural heritage creating something new but proudly Mongolian.

As a company we’re working on ditching the stereotypes and clichés used in tourism in Mongolia and instead looking at ways we can showcase the country as it actually is in the 21st Century  – a country that can delight, challenge and surpise.