Burma forum

Burma Travel Agent.

TonyL

flashpacker
Posts: 39

I have just spent about a month e mailing various travel agents in Burma trying to make hotel bookings and get a few questions answered. All, except one, failed to reply.
No doubt other travellers must have had similar experiences.
One problem could have been that I sent some of the e mails via my Yahoo and my G mail addresses. It seems that these could be blocked by the government. Others were sent via a pop-up "contact us" e mail on various sites so there should have been no problem - but no answers ensued.
The company that I dealt with was Columbus Tours and they managed to reply more or less the same day allowing for time differences. They have set up all my hotels and flights etc and their prices seem as good or better than other sites I have looked at.
I dont send this as an advert for them. Its just to help others who get as frustrated as I did to find a way through the difficulties.
The person that I dealt with is called Ohnmar( dont know if that is male or female).Their English is perfect. It also seemed to help when I used my Australian bigpond e mail address. Perhaps the Generals dont bug that one.
So, best of luck to all who wish to venture on a Burma trip.

#1 Posted: 14/8/2009 - 13:25
kkym

motodop
Posts: 25
Located in:

Most of the agents are hoping for their business and they usually reply asap. But there may be some other reasons.
In their address, they normally mentioned the email address
( myanmar.com.mm ). That is the initial mail address after setting up the company. It is run by the state and not reliable. About 60 % of mail were lost or late. Some use gmail as back up. Some have their own website and own mail server.
But the main problem is although they are using gmail they didn't change their initial mail address either in their website or their letterhead. They never update recently.
So please avoid sending messages through myanmar.com.mm, then I am sure you will receive all the replies sooner or later.

#2 Posted: 12/7/2010 - 18:13
CunningMcFar

tuk tuk driver
Posts: 161

a few months ago I made the innocent mistake of replying to an offer for "free travel info" on the myanmars.net site, just to get an idea of what a fully-arranged tour might cost as we plan our upcoming trip--we travel independently, but I was simply curious about the costs to have it all pre-arranged as we look at our budget for the trip. I received back proposed itineraries from upwards of 30 Yangon agents, all very eager for our business, and many I have heard from more than once. I will likely choose a couple of them to help us arrange some flights and maybe a hotel here or there, but we have no interest in a fully arranged tour.

so, want to hear from just about every agent in Yangon by email? just fill out this online form and your inbox will be blessed with an abundance of enthusiastic Burmese travel services:
Free Travel Info from myanmars.net

#3 Posted: 23/7/2010 - 05:10

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"I never travel far, without a little Big Star"- The Replacements
Ramblergirl

backpacker
Posts: 17

I have been working with Mr Myanmar Travel in organising a 4-week tour for 4 people. Their contact person Paul has been really quick to answer to my emails and has explained everything very thoroughly. It has taken just over a week to plan and agree the itinerary. I couldn't have done it quicker or better with any travel agent here in Australia! I am very, very pleased.

#4 Posted: 25/7/2010 - 14:22