In Conversation: APEX Asia with Toby Smith
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Toby Smith
General Manager Product
Cathay Pacific Airways
APEX Asia keynote speaker Toby Smith is general product manager, Cathay Pacific Airways and is based in Hong Kong. A Bristol University graduate and French Language major, Toby joined Cathay Pacific in 2003 and has since held roles as manager, corporate contingency planning, country manager, Paris and is currently manages product development for both Cathay Pacific and subsidiary airline DragonAir.
In your opinion, what is the single most important issue facing the passenger experience industry today?
How to deliver consistently high standards of product and service across an increasingly complex passenger journey and to an increasingly diverse range of passengers – and all for a reasonable cost at a time when yields are under pressure and competition is intense.
Which APEX Asia talk are you most looking forward to?
James Lee on design innovation in the cabin. James is a very talented and home grown HKG designer.
How can the industry measure and address cultural or regional expectations when it comes to product and service?
CX (Cathay Pacific) and KA (Dragonair) track passenger profiles in great detail including country of origin/ethnicity. This helps us design products and services which are relevant for our passengers. However, it is important also to remember the brand positioning. For example, passengers on Dragonair love the fact that we have such an international range of content on board, despite the fact that the vast majority of those passengers are of Chinese ethnicity. We would not want to neglect that and base our product selection entirely on passenger demographic data without enquiring of our passengers what they really want!
In terms of service style, our crew are trained to recognize and respond to a variety of cultural and regional expectations and their ability to do so is one of the key success factors of CX and KA.
Biggest challenge you’ve ever overcome at work?
One of the biggest challenges in recent years has been coming into this role and needing to get up to speed very quickly on the complexities and technicalities of product and service design. We have a lot of talented and experienced teams in CX and KA and they are looking to you for leadership on issues about which they often know far more than you!
Last place you traveled to for fun?
Sydney – I love the weather, the food and the general outdoor lifestyle
Something that never ceases to amaze you in your industry of work?
The complexity of this industry. In commercial aviation, throughout the aircraft but especially so in the premium cabins, we are trying to re-create the equivalent of a restaurant, cinema and hotel at 30,000 feet – and ensure that luggage arrives at the same time.
What’s the one item you can’t travel without?
My passport … just kidding. A good pair of noise cancelling headphones. There is such great range of content available on our IFE system that I want to enjoy it without the ambient noise.
Talent you wish you possessed?
The ability to draw well! Working in Product development, I occasionally have to try to illustrate some of my ideas. The results are not always helpful in moving the discussion forward!