When entrepreneurs Chit Hnin and Chit Moe traveled around their native Myanmar with the Samsung Android Training Road Show, they encountered numerous travel frustrations — and were struck with product inspiration.
“When we searched the web for nice hotels, restaurants and the attractions nearby, we could not find accurate information,” Chit Hnin recalled. “We realized it can be difficult finding the latest travel information on what to expect when you visit.”
One-stop app
The cofounders of New Wave Technology saw a product opportunity, and they launched their Best Trip platform in 2015, alongside Linn Phyo and Pyae Phyo, who helped develop the service and now serve as its technology and creative directors, respectively.
Best Trip includes travel guides to some of Myanmar’s choicest tourist destinations, including Yangon, Bagan and Nay Pyi Taw, and allows users to book hotels through the site, making it a one-stop shop. The company is currently partnered with 15 hotels, though it aims to increase that number to 300 by mid-2017, and the team is working on a booking functionality for the app.
It also offers information on popular festivals so tourists can plan their visits accordingly.
The Best Trip app works offline, which is critical for travelers passing through remote areas of the country where they may not have data signals. Although internet access has spread rapidly in major cities such as Yangon, rural Myanmar is still "untapped" in this regard, as Ooredoo Myanmar CEO Rene Meza told Frontier Myanmar.
The app also automatically updates as the New Wave team adds new cities, and visitors can check in socially through the app and Facebook. In order to be user-friendly for both domestic and foreign travelers, Best Trip is currently available in Burmese and English. (Chit Hnin and Chit Moe are tracking the home countries of their users to identify which languages to offer in the future.)
Source : Forbes
