The picture seems mixed.

For Graeme Beardsell, chief customer development and marketing officer, Experian Asia Pacific, it’s “proceed with caution” and he believes there will be a constriction of overall marketing budgets.

He sees a continuing shift from traditional to digital media and whatever funds that are going into the latter will be in social media and mobile. Think personalized and targeted, he says. (Full interview next week)

Patrick Imbardelli (left), president and CEO of Pan Pacific Hotels Group, would like to hear less of the phrase “cautiously optimistic”.

“Not so much because things are looking up and we can afford to be more bullish. Just that it’s a nice phrase that encapsulates the mood of the last three years but it’s been bandied around so much it’s ceased to be meaningful at all,” he says.

“I think the political upheavals and economic turbulence of 2011 is a sign of the times. There are so many hotspots – Europe, the US, Russia, North Korea, Iraq, Pakistan.

“‘Uncertainty’ is the new normal; we’ve become accustomed to disruptions in business in the last three years, but it still can be unsettling and leading a company through such uncertain times requires certain steel and resolve.”

Robert Bailey, president and CEO of Abacus International, sees three challenges ahead for Asian travel.

• The continued financial uncertainty in Europe and US will play a major role in 2012.

• The volatility of the oil prices continues to be a concern. A US$10 increase in barrel price is expected to push up the total ticket price by almost 3%.

• Increased complexity of choice for consumers driven by proliferation of LCCs

Gregory O’Neil, president of BCD Travel Asia Pacific, says he is cautiously looking forward and fear the European and US economies are setting a trend for the softening of the market.

“While sales opportunities remain high, our customers appear to be in the same mode of operation. Cost management seems to be one of the prime objectives and we believe this will continue throughout the rest of the year.”

John Mims, global vice president of marketing and sales of Las Vegas Sands, who oversees the properties in Macau and Singapore, is all gung-ho about this year, having just returned from a sales trip through the US.

He believes there are many people who still don’t know how much Singapore has transformed and the China market remains a major opportunity. “Of course, if you are sitting in Europe and the US, the picture may be very different but out here, things are still looking pretty good.”

But even as I ask these questions and share the answers, my mind keeps harking back to the radio broadcast I heard last night – author and philosopher Dr John Gray speaking about “Living In The Present”.

His point of view is that “if we can stop thinking about what the future might bring and embrace the present for what it is, we would be a lot better off”.

He points to our endless obsession with what might be and our belief that a single event could somehow end everything. His talk dealt in large part with the current European troubles and the possible implosion of the European banking system and Euro and the belief by many that this could spell the end of Europe.

He says, “Surely we would be better off if we put an end to our obsession with endings. Humans are sturdy creatures built to withstand regular disruption. Conflict never ceases, but neither does human resourcefulness, adaptability or courage.”