January is almost up and we’ve already done some great interviews. Here are some of the best quotes of the month, many of which have an Asian flavour

1. A big part of succeeding in China is having a local partner which understands local standards and technology issues - Tweet me

Steven Pang, managing director of Skyscanner in China cannot stress enough the importance of having a strongly local flavour

2. What you are really looking for is people willing to build a trench and not dig their own hole.

Max Kraynov, CEO, Aviasales argues for hiring people that are prepared for team work

3. We haven’t even scratched the proverbial tip of the giant ‘stay’ market in India

As India’s economy looks set to outstrip that of China in 2016, Yogendra Vasupal, the founder Indian vacation rentals firm Stayzilla believes there is everything to play for

4. It’s a myth that successful entrepreneurs are just out of college. Unless they are lucky, first time entrepreneurs are 99% certain to fail.

In the first in a series of start up stories Joe Haslam, chairman and co-founder of HotHotels points to the importance of experience

5. Google is our drug

But it’s not the only one you need, says Turochas Fuad, the founder of TravelMob vacation rentals firm in Asia Pacific’s fast-growing value segment.

6. We launched with the tool on November 17 and to date we’ve seen a 98% increase in conversions on our direct channel

Top marks for Sam Wilson, an e-commerce marketing manager at Shire Hotels who is delighted that a decision to play the OTAs at their own game seems to be working

7. Travel people will talk about mobile bookings and nothing else

Mattias Borg, CEO Guidepal couldn’t be more certain that mobile will dominate travel conversation in 2015

8. It’s time we took ancillaries seriously!

That’s the view of EyeforTravel MD Tim Gunstone and if you want to find out more about how to do just that, why not take a look at a just published report Ancillary Revenues in the hospitality industry

9.  When an organisation only does the minimum, they won’t get value out of it [data]. The real value only happens when you break down silos  

If you are going to do data, don’t do it reluctantly, says Anil Kaul, chief executive of Absolutdata

10. Clearly, it behooves RM to translate its work into the language of the other departments, which it depends on for various inputs or support.

Tom Bacon, EyeforTravel’s guest columnist and a 25-year airline veteran and industry consultant in revenue optimisation gives us a lesson in interpretation