Don't mess with success?

"STB will place emphasis on four major regional markets – China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia – and one emerging market, Vietnam," Ms Aw announced

I know a sales leader who worked in a hotel within the vicinity of a World Trade Centre. For years, the Convention and Exhibition business was a cash cow and the sales leader got blinded by success. It's perfectly understandable.

The danger is, this kind of thinking made perfect sense in static situations where tomorrow looked disturbingly like today. It won't work in a fluid, fickle, fluctuating environment like our business world today.

A new, modern and high-tech Convention Centre was built in the later years elsewhere in the city and the majority of the MICE business migrated to the new venue, dramatically hurting the hotel's income.

In a changing marketplace, I never dare rest on my laurels. One rule of thumb: Always develop replacement markets...even in good times.