This founder bet on Myanmar’s tourism. Now it’s exploding and he’s reaping the rewards

Buddhist temple Shwezigon Pagoda or Shwezigon Paya located in Nyaung-U, a town near Bagan in Myanamar. Photo taken from Wikipedia commons

Myanmar is a tourism hot spot. This once isolated country is seeing a surge in tourist arrivals, with its Ministry of Hotels and Tourism expecting 4.5 million foreign visitors this year, 46 percent higher than last year’s 3.08 million. Add to that some 2.4 million Burmese who fly domestically at least once every year.

Yet booking flights in Myanmar is still a pain.

Myanmar-born entrepreneur Mike Than Tun Win tells Tech in Asia most travelers go through the hassle of having to locate travel agents, who charge hefty fees for arranging the bookings. In fact, up until this year, he says foreign visitors had to wait until they’d landed in Myanmar before they could book domestic flights.

When Mike returned to his homeland in 2010 after immigrating to Singapore with his family at age eight, he started conceptualizing a more convenient way of arranging travel plans in Myanmar.

His ideas came to life in June this year, when Flymya launched. Flymya claims to be the first one-stop site that allows travelers to compare flight schedules and fares of the country’s 10 domestic airlines, and make bookings with just a few mouse clicks.

Going the extra mile

Flymya accepts all major credit cards, along with Myanmar’s only card payment system, the Myanmar Payment Union. Payments can also be made via Paypal. Air tickets are delivered to customers via email.

Those with only cash at their disposal can pay in person at Flymya’s office in Latha township in Yangon.

Mike says they go the extra mile by offering advice to customers such as information on how domestic airlines operate, how to apply for a visa, or even what vaccinations to take.

“They can communicate with our english-proficient employees, who answer their emails within 24 hours. Customer support is a big problem in Myanmar because many of the travel agents do not work online and even if they have a website, they may take a week or two to reply to you. We pride ourselves on our service,” Mike says.

Flymya will soon offer travelers hotel and tour packages, as well as car rentals.

Mike says two other platforms, Oway and VisitMM, are dealing with online domestic flight bookings in Myanmar, but Flymya provides “more comprehensive” information and “lower prices.” In the meantime, Flymya is onboarding offline tour operators on its site, effectively reducing indirect competition from them.

Flymya founder Mike Than Tun Win

Tourism explosion

A growing portfolio