The four panelists that followed Nigel Roberts, president of Marina Bay Sands, at the first WIT*e certainly had the right attitude to get to where they wanted to in their careers.

Robin Yap (left), regional director-Asia of Insight Vacations, gave up a job in engineering at Singapore Airlines because he wanted to work with "living things". He was then told he didn't have to study too hard to be in the travel agency business. "Travel agents, no need to study one," he was told by an older travel agent.

Determined to prove him wrong, Yap has not stopped studying since and now has several degrees under his belt. So to him, mentors may tell you one thing but it is up to you to decide what you want to do for yourself.

Jeannette Ho (right), vice president-marketing of Raffles Hotels & Resorts, named two mentors – David Shackleton, a general manager whom she worked with, who "walked a mile in every staff's shoes so that he could understand what their job was like" and Diana Ee-Tan, her former boss at Raffles Hotels & Resorts, who taught her about work-life balance.

With three children, Ho said she makes it a point to spend time with her family even as she works at a challenging job. "You make time for things that are important in your life."

Shashank Nigam (below left) too got bored with working with computers and because he loved anything to do with airlines, decided to start a blog. That soon became a White Paper and then evolved into an airline branding practice called Simpliflying.

His break came from his own understanding that the area he could make a difference in was helping airlines understand the digital social media media and how they could use that for their branding. The Singapore Management University graduate is now a regular feature at airline conferences around the world.

Kliff Ang (below right) founded Asia Travel Group to take the lead in accessible tourism in Singapore and he hopes, the rest of Asia. He was inspired when he was asked by a friend, Dennis Kweh, to sponsor his Adventure200 Challenge.

Kweh, a librarian, suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Morquio Brailsford Disease, Spinal Sclerosis and is blind in one eye. In April this year, he undertook a wheelchair charity quest where he planned to travel 200km over three days and raise money for the Spastic Children's Association of Singapore (SCAS).

Said Ang, "I then realised that in the market, no one was offering accessible tourism. Further research also showed that there is a great potential and accessible tourism is a well established market in the west.

"In a few informal discussions with other industry players, a few were aware that there is a market demand for accessible tourism. However, most found it difficult and did not know how and where to start the work."

And so Ang, after 20 years in the banking sector, took the plunge. It's not been easy going – the market hardly understands the concept, suppliers are not forthcoming and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is not currently engaged in this sector.

But Ang is not giving up. "What you need to make it in everything is heart."

4Hoteliers is the "Official Daily News" of WIT09

www.webintravel.com - October 20-23, 2009 Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore