Asia-Pacific Power List 2020: Bo Sun, Trip.com

Bo Sun

Chief marketing officer
Trip.com Group
China

To say 2020 is a tough year for online travel services such as Trip.com, best known for its Ctrip brand in China, would be a vast understatement. Chinese outbound travel had become critical for the industry before flights were cancelled, borders closed and the world's globetrotters became shut-ins. Perhaps no company felt the sting as painfully, but for marketing chief Bo Sun, it is not the moment to lose hope.

Sun launched a 'travel revival plan' in China in March, with RMB 1 billion (US$141 million) committed by Trip.com. And when China eased the travel ban in late April, Sun shifted the brand's efforts towards matching people’s pent-up need of travel after being stuck at home for over four months. Ctrip also started online streaming, partnering with video sharing app Kuaishou during the May holidays, promoting domestic travel along with local products. With a series of marketing events that included asking their CEO to do livestreaming with a wig, Ctrip found a way of getting back into the limelight. In late June, it followed all this up with a global online event, TravelOn, involving world travel and government leaders. 

Sun is in charge of Ctrip’s marketing on digitisation, brands, content, as well as public affairs. Apart from these, he also works as CEO of Oasis Lab, a Ctrip internal incubator and angel investor. Prior to joining Ctrip, Sun had more than 10 years of experiences in China’s internet industry.