Big interview
sure-footed enough to guide her 45,000 employees through the crags and troughs of contemporary China. One day soon, in fact, it may be firms like Trip that teach the tech world about keeping workers happy and regulators at bay.
Rise and shine
Over the past two decades, Chinese business has exploded. In 2000, just ten of the country’s firms were members of Fortune 500. Last year that number had jumped to 124 – more than the US. Many of these companies, like Weibo and Tencent, are rapidly becoming household names in China and beyond. Countless others, encompassing everything from electric vehicles to rare earth metals, seem set to become economic titans all their own. And though it’s yet to scale the peaks of an Airbnb, Trip’s own journey is similarly impressive. Consider the numbers. In the 15 years since it went public, in 2003, the online travel firm’s market cap increased 30 times over. In 2018, revenue was 18% up on the year before. Even last year, Trip finished strongly, posting third-quarter profits 73% up from the previous cycle. Jane Jie Sun’s own rise has been similarly brisk. Joining as CFO in 2005 – when it was still known as Ctrip – she was promoted to
Trip.com’s COO in 2012. Four years later, Sun was appointed CEO, succeeding co-founder James Liang. Yet in her telling, these later triumphs would have been far tougher without robust training abroad. As a student at the University of Florida, then an auditor in California, Sun suggests she’s adept at working on both sides of the Pacific. “I understand how Wall Street works, how Silicon Valley works,” she says. “I also have a very strong background in China. I understand both, and that’s the whole purpose for me – to really become a good bridge between China and the rest of the world.” Certainly, this cosmopolitan attitude could explain
Trip’s vigorous acquisition of foreign rivals. The same month Sun became CEO, in November 2016, her company scooped up the Edinburgh-based Skyscanner. That was followed by
Trip.com – hence the name change from Ctrip – and Indian travel retailer MakeMyTrip. Nor did Sun’s enthusiasm dampen during last year’s emergency. In April 2020, Trip acquired Vayama and Vliegwinkel, among other Dutch brands. That’s shadowed by investments in other corners of the travel industry. In 2018, for instance, the Chinese giant launched TrainPal, an online ticketing platform in the UK. All told,
Trip.com Group is now one of the most powerful travel brands around, comfortably the biggest non-US player, and just ahead of Expedia with a market cap of $20bn.
This growth would likely be impossible outside the Middle Kingdom. Domestically, Chinese tourists took six billion trips in 2019, with the country’s travel
Chief Executive Officer /
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industry contributing a full 11% of GDP. That’s echoed by the Chinese abroad. A bulging middle class means hundreds of millions can now spend their yuan overseas. China’s monied elite are flexing their muscles too. To explain what she means, Sun describes a new luxury tour offered by Trip. Sweeping passengers around the world, and costing around $200,000 per person, the CEO asks me to guess how quickly tickets sold out. I suggested a couple of hours. In fact, they went in just 17 seconds. No wonder Sun feels comfortable quoting Confucious. As the old sage said, Sun recalls, “it’s better to travel 10,000 miles than to read 10,000 books.”
Fun child policy
In January 2020, China was preparing to celebrate its new year. This should have been an auspicious time, and not just because years of the rat are traditionally associated with wealth and prosperity. Between family reunions and weekend getaways, people here normally take over 3bn trips over the festive period. As China’s biggest travel company, Trip should have been perfectly placed to watch its profits soar. It soon became clear, however, that this year of the rat would be different. From the wet markets to the overflowing hospitals to the lockdowns, 2020 would be a disaster for the global economy, with travel firms like Trip left especially vulnerable.
73%
The percentage rise from the previous cycle that Trip posted last year for third- quarter profits up this amount from the previous cycle.
$30bn
The value of Trip. com Group since Sun became CEO, recently selling $1.1bn shares.
Trip.com Group
“That’s the whole purpose for me – to really become a good bridge between China and the rest of the world.”
In short, everything Trip had achieved over the past decade could have been wiped away by the pandemic and its wake. That it wasn’t is largely down to the rugged determination of its CEO. As Sun explains, the dangers of the pandemic spurred her into action, ultimately leading to a three-pronged plan to beat the pandemic. Sun’s first priority, she says, were her customers. “Immediately, we promised our customers that we would give them their refund back,” she recalls. “On any given day, I remember Sunday, we would refund ¥5bn, ¥6bn to our customers.” That’s around $775m, even as it remained unclear if airlines and hotels would do their part and refund Trip after Sun’s colossal act of generosity. Unsurprisingly, the CEO describes those first, frantic days as “very stressful” – though she ultimately emphasises it was the “right thing to do”. Altogether,
Trip.com returned around ¥350bn ($54bn) to beleaguered travellers. With those kinds of figures floating about, at any rate, the next stage of Sun’s plan feels almost miserly in comparison.
Opposite page: CEO of
Trip.com Group, Jane Jie Sun.
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