Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com | 3 Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652 • TEL: +65-6801-0450 FAX: +65-6801-0469 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd. Located at 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652. All rights reserved. Volume 7 Issue 9 Please address all subscription mail to the above address, Fax +852 3020 5794, or email travelweeklyasia@asia-ad.net. 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NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP (ASIA) GROUP PUBLISHER Irene Chua Tel: (65) 6801 0451 | ichua@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Yeoh Siew Hoon Tel: (65) 6801 0450 | syeoh@ntmllc.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Esther Faith Lew Tel: (65) 6801 0457 | esther.lew@ntmllc.com EDITOR-AT-LARGE Ian Jarrett Tel: (618) 9433 6455 | ian.jarrett@travelweekly.com SUB EDITOR Vera Lye | veralye@gmail.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Lee Xin Hui Tel: (65) 6801 0453 | xinhui.lee@ntmllc.com WRITER Danielle Yong | danielle.yong@ntmllc.com WRITER Corinne Wan Tel: (603) 2201 1979 | corinne.wan@travelweekly.com HONG KONG CORRESPONDENT Catharine Nicol | cn@monsterpix.hk ART DIRECTOR Lim Bee Bee Tel: (65) 9750 8405 | bb.bbcreative@gmail.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Suki Chong | suki.bbcreative@gmail.com SALES & MARKETING REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Ng Whey Whey Tel: (65) 6801 0460 | whey.ng@ntmllc.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Kevin Ng Tel: (65) 6801 0459 | kevin.ng@ntmllc.com MARKETING EXECUTIVE Rachelle Lee Tel: (65) 6801 0458 | rachelle.lee@ntmllc.com AD TRAFFIC AND PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Rena Koh Tel: (65) 6801 0455 | rena.koh@ntmllc.com IT & DIGITAL IT & DIGITAL OPERATIONS Ron Wee Tel: (65) 6801 0456 | ron.wee@ntmllc.com CHINA OFFICE GROUP PUBLISHER (China) Rebecca Zhang Tel: (8621) 5179 8363 | rebecca.zhang@ntmllc.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Shawn Li Tel: (8610) 8532 4021 | shawn.li@travelweekly.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Roger Wang Tel: (8621) 5179 8360 | roger.wang@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Susan Li Tel: (8610) 8532 3611 | susan.li@travelweekly.com MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES HONG KONG/MACAU ZAM International - Manna Ma Tel: (852) 9650 0518 | manna.ma@zamintl.com.hk KOREA Young Media Inc - Keon Chang Tel: (822) 2273 4833 | ymedia@chol.com INDIA MHI Communications - Smriti Khanna Tel: (9198) 1040 7483 | skhanna@mhi.com.hk AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR - ASIA Patti Mo | patti.mo@travelweekly.com DATABASE & FULFILLMENT MANAGER Zoe Chu | zoe.chu@travelweekly.com FINANCE ASIA FINANCE MANAGER Julia Tham | julia.tham@ntmllc.com NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Thomas L. Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA Thomas Cintorino EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING SOLUTIONS Michelle Rosenberg VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION Roberta Muller VICE PRESIDENT, CONTENT LICENSING Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis Siew Hoon is a traveller who loves to write and a writer who loves to travel. She's combined her two loves into a career in travel journalism that has seen her launch several travel industry titles and conferences, including WIT. She loves the change and discovery that comes with travel and the business. Last weekend, I took my family to one of my favourite restaurants, Ocean Green. Other than the food which is simply delicious, I love it for sentimental reasons. It's run by the Paramount Hotel where I worked for three months. I got the job not on merit but because my parents knew the owners. It gave me my first inkling into the world of hospitality. I worked at the front desk, greeting and checking in guests, managing the switchboard and handling enquiries. The hotel, opened in 1948, had under 20 rooms and sometimes ran over 100% occupancy on weekends. That's when I learnt about yield management. It ran a pretty brisk trade with local businessmen and, for some reason, jockeys who always gave me big tips. Curious to see what state the hotel was in, I asked the manager for a tour. It's kept its colonial feel. The old staircase looks grand and imposing – you have to remove your shoes to go up to the second level. I saw the very spacious family room. I was told it costs around RM280 a night. There are family portraits on the wall, the founder, of course, claiming top position. The manager, who's been there for 10 years, tells me it's popular with British tourists and its discreet, beachside location makes it a favourite with regulars. I had been prompted to revisit the scene of my first job in travel because in August, I launched a travel careers event called Tern in Singapore where I asked my panelists if they remembered their first job in travel – which they of course did. We all remember the first time we did anything after all – first kiss, first flight … Timothy Hughes, vice president business development at Agoda, worked at a bar in Australia when he was 15 and learnt all about human nature, which stood him in good stead as he went through law school and then ended up in travel, which he said, "is all about relationships". Robin Yap, president, The Travel Corporation Asia, stared at aircraft parts in his engineering job at Singapore Airlines, which made him appreciate that "there's no margin for error because human lives are at stake". It's a discipline that he's carried through his entire career in travel, of which the last 30 years have been with one organisation. Loh Lik Peng, founder of the Unlisted Collection, gave up a "soul destroying" career of being a bankruptcy lawyer and took his chances at buying a conservation shophouse in Chinatown and converted it into Singapore's first urban boutique hotel, Hotel 1929. Louise Daley, executive vice president and CFO of Accor Asia Pacific, had a good head for numbers and in her early days, tried many jobs. "When you're young, just try everything and see what you like." Her first fulltime job was in housekeeping at the Regent Sydney. Ironically, she said the abundance of choices today makes it difficult for youths to decide what they want to do. "In our days, we had very little choice, it was get a job and survive. I think what's missing today is sheer doggedness, to stick to something and make it work." She's right in a sense. I did the job at Paramount because I had few choices, and besides I wanted to give my father "face" because he had recommended me to his friend. I lasted three months because I knew I didn't want to be in hospitality but journalism. But in the end, somehow the dots connected. BACK WHERE IT ALL BEGAN TALKING POINT

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