MR AND MRS KITE
Hello Paul,
My wife and I recently spent 14 enjoyable days on the Kathay Pandaw doing the Pyay to Kalay trip.The trip was well beyond expectations with nothing that we could fault.The vessel was well appointed, clean, quiet and very comfortable.The crew were very professional, and those crew that interfaced with the passengers, very attentive, obliging and they could not do enough for you, almost to an embarrassing degree.
Your guide, Daniel, is a tremendous asset to your Company. He is well spoken, very considerate and has great empathy with all those he is dealing with, whether it be a passenger (especially those feeling ill), a villager (all of whom he treated with respect and dignity), and village children (with whom he related to a totally friendly and engaging manner) and the crew. There seemingly were no issues or problems that he was incapable of handling or addressing, which gave us a great degree of confidence. The trip was perhaps one of the best holidays that we have had, and we compliment you and the company for a job well done.
Prior to booking the trip, Pandaw was a name that we had not heard of, nor could we find out much about it, apart from the website. Since arriving back in New Zealand, I have visited three travel agents, all aligned to different wholesalers, and asked them for information on river cruising in SE Asia. Not one mentioned Pandaw, and when asked about Pandaw, none of them had heard of the Company. I would suggest that there is a significant untapped market in New Zealand for your cruises, as generally many New Zealanders enjoy this type of holiday, well away from hordes of other tourists.
I believe that if your cruises are marketed and put forwarded as an option to prospective NZ travellers (who have similar interests as Australians), these New Zealanders would compliment the significant number of Australians booking your cruises.
Regards
Mervyn & Ann Kite
