And therein lies the difference between pearling and hospitality, as Marilynne Paspaley, founder of Pinctada Hotels & Resorts, tells Yeoh Siew Hoon during an encounter in Adelaide.

Pinctada Cable Beach Resort and Spa

It was one of those huge, noisy, group lunches with so much going on you hardly know how to concentrate.

And so you pick a seat and hope you find some interesting company; otherwise it's alright, you stuff your face, listen to the speeches, watch the entertainment and leave.

Generally, on occasions such as these – this being the Australian Tourism Exchange in Adelaide – I try and seek out people I don't know in the hope that I can find an interesting angle. Hey, it makes work more interesting – after all, didn't we all choose travel because we love meeting people?

Well, I struck gold that day or, to be precise, pearls.

Sitting next to me was Marilynne Paspaley, whose name card identified her as founder and managing director of Pinctada Hotels & Resorts.

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Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com . Get your weekly cuppa of news, gossip, humour and opinion at the cafe for travel insiders.

WIT 2010: October 19-22 SUNTEC Singapore ~ www.webintravel.com