Latest news with #JaneSun
Mint
19-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Trip.com CEO sees tailwinds for China tourism
China's plan to boost services demand bodes well for Group, its chief executive said, betting that travel revenue will get a lift despite continued consumer wariness. Chinese officials have over the past year been relaxing visa rules for foreign visitors and introducing subsidies for consumers, searching for new drivers of economic growth. That is welcome news for The online travel giant expects to capitalize on the resulting travel upswing, CEO Jane Sun said. 'We are very supportive of these initiatives," Sun, who has led the company since 2016, told The Wall Street Journal. China's biggest online travel agency by traffic volume enjoyed a windfall during the travel boom that followed the nation's lifting of strict pandemic restrictions. Last year, its net profit surged 73%, sending Hong Kong-listed shares up about 95%. As revenue growth normalizes, the company plans to drive growth from both domestic and international markets. It sees a significant tailwind in Beijing's efforts to boost consumption. The push, which initially focused on goods, has expanded to target services, including tourism. Recent data suggest the efforts are paying off. During China's Labor Day holiday in May, domestic tourism spending rose 8% from a year earlier. Inbound tourism also holds 'great potential," Sun said, aided by easing visa requirements and a new tax-refund program for visitors. Tourist arrivals contribute far less to China's economy than in other major countries, statistics show. Revenue from foreign travel makes up 2% to 3% of the annual gross domestic product of the U.S., the world's largest economy, Sun said. 'If we can at least reach where the U.S. is, that's a trillion-dollar industry," she said. According to Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping, inbound tourism accounted for about 0.5% of China's GDP in 2024. Chinese policymakers have been seeking a larger share of international travel traffic for years. That has led to more open borders, with tourists from more than 50 countries now able to enter without a visa. In 2024, 64.9 million foreigners visited China, with 20 million of them entering visa-free, according to data from the National Immigration Administration. Still, the number has yet to return to prepandemic levels. Sun expects inbound travel revenue to more than double this year. International business was a highlight for in the first quarter, with bookings up 60%, buoying overall revenue. Higher costs for branding and user acquisition weighed on margins, but that is 'part of the process," Sun said. It takes 18 to 36 months to develop a new market, she said. faces challenges at home as well. Even with government incentives to spur service consumption—including $500 million for tourism and other services in Shanghai alone—economic woes have kept Chinese households wary about spending. Doubts persist about the sustainability of the subsidy-driven boost. In the first quarter, China's daily hotel prices declined from the previous year as more lower-tier hotels entered the market, underscoring the trend of downtrading, in which consumers switch to cheaper services from pricier ones. And despite robust overall spending during the Labor Day holiday, domestic spending on a per-person trip basis was still down about 10% from 2019 levels. However, Sun believes that if China's GDP can continue to grow at 4% to 5%, tourism revenue can outpace that by a couple of percentage points. Stiffer competition in the Chinese market also doesn't faze her. competes with the likes of Alibaba-backed Fliggy, Tongcheng and Meituan for China's tourism dollars. The industry's brightening outlook has attracted new rivals too, such as Douyin, TikTok's sister app in China, and e-commerce giant Sun expects to maintain its leading market share in China, projecting that its domestic business growth will outperform the industry average. Newcomers might be able to bring customers to their platforms, but they still need a developed booking mechanism and travel support system, the CEO said. 'That's very hard to do," said Sun. Write to Sherry Qin at
Harvard Business Review
04-06-2025
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
Building an AI-Powered, Talent-Friendly Organization
Over the next four weeks, we're highlighting some of the best conversations from the 2025 HBR Leadership Summit held in April. In this episode, Jane Sun, CEO of Group, shares her leadership approach to scaling one of the world's largest online travel companies. From pioneering the use of AI in customer experience and internal operations to reimagining hybrid work and gender diversity, she shares how she's steering a global company through rapid change and geopolitical uncertainty. She discusses her emphasis on hiring for integrity, competence, and curiosity, and outlines how AI is embedded throughout the business—from resume screening and customer personalization to employee training and product development. Key episode topics include: leadership, hiring and recruitment, motivating people, developing employees, AI and machine learning, gender, diversity and inclusion, managing uncertainty, growth strategy, innovation
CNA
30-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
AI revolutionising travel and boosting business: CEO
At the ATXSummit, CNA's Sarah Al-Khaldi explores the transformative role of artificial intelligence in the travel industry with CEO Jane Sun. Ms Sun discusses how AI is revolutionising the sector, from boosting productivity and elevating customer service to enhancing travel planning and experiences.
CNBC
29-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Trip.com CEO reveals new '3E' travel trends
Jane Sun, CEO of Group, discusses how the company is leveraging AI to improve customer experience as she shares the three top emerging travel trends of the year.
Skift
20-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
Trip.com Group Rides AI, Inbound Boom, and Older Travelers to Strong Quarter
inbound bookings soared 100% as China's visa-free policies lured more tourists. With AI and senior travelers fueling growth, the company's global comeback looks sharp and well-targeted. Inbound tourism to China has become Group's fastest-growing segment, thanks to favorable policy changes and increased international interest. Visa-free access for travelers from over 40 countries, along with China's new 240-hour visa-free transit policy, is making it easier for tourists to visit the country. 'In the first quarter, our inbound travel bookings surged by approximately 100% year-over-year with South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia emerging as some of the fastest-growing source markets,' said Group Co-Founder and Executive Chairman James Liang at an earnings call on Tuesday. Inbound hotel bookings from key visa-free countries surged more than 240%, driven in part by new initiatives such as free city tours for transit travelers and upgrades to multilingual offline service centers. The inbound segment also outperformed others on conversion rates and cross-selling metrics, according to Jane Sun, CEO and director of Group. AI as a Core Strategic Asset Artificial intelligence is also playing a key role in Group's growth strategy. From planni
