The Organization

Chinese Speaking Services and Training provides highly educated, Chinese- speaking guides, mostly to tour companies.

The owners, Vera Habers and Hans Caljouw, have a wealth of experience and expertise in tour operating and with Chinese tourists.

Hans Caljouw has visited China many times and worked for a decade as a tour manager in China for De Boer&Wendel, encountering every concievable situation. This is the root of his fascination for the Chinese, their wonderful culture and country. His experience was gained working for several tour operators.

Vera Habers has worked for several years co-ordinating representatives and tour managers for a number of operators. She was responsible for educating guides and tour managers as co-ordinator for the NHTV (Breda) and, currently, for the University of INHolland for the courses Tourism and Leisure Management.

She says: "Tour leading groups is something that has to fit your personality and competencies. One must have a passion for people and adventure and an enthusiasm to inspire a new group every day. Together with these qualities, one must have a comprehensive knowledge of the destination and its culture".

For this reason, all guides working for CSST, possess the CSST-Certificate. To obtain the certificate one must have followed the CSST training course and passed the exam. To join the course, all candidates, (who, of course, are fluent in Mandarin and hbo-level) are first tested in areas such as motivation, service-minded attitude and communication skills.

For more information about the course, look at The Course in the menu.