CTrip swaps out Luo Jun as CEO of Tujia

The founder of Tujia, a home-sharing platform for travelers in China, Luo Jun, has stepped down as CEO, but will continue to act as a director of the company.

Luo was replaced at the helm of the $1.5 billion online vacation rental platform by Tujia’s COO, Yang Changle, with immediate effect, according to an internal memo penned by Ctrip chairman James Liang on February 26th. The online travel service provider is a major shareholder and partner of Tujia.

The deposed founder will be staying on with Tujia as the CEO of Sweetome, the company’s offline property management spinoff.

Change of Command at a Mainland Unicorn

Liang wrote in the memo this week that, “on behalf of the board of directors, I sincerely thank Luo Jun for his great contribution in Tujia since its founding. I also congratulate Yang Changle on his promotion.”

According to public information, Yang joined the Chinese travel site Qunar.com in 2010 and subsequently held a number of senior positions with the travel platform. Qunar.com ended a long period of rivalry with Ctrip in 2015 by agreeing to a share swap and business alliance, which brought the smaller firm under the control of China’s online travel pioneer.

In October 2016, when Tujia was losing money, Yang was appointed as the company’s COO and within one year, the vacation rental platform’s business had grown five-folds — an improvement widely attributed to Yang’s leadership. In late 2017, Tujia, often dubbed the Airbnb of China, completed a $300 million Ctrip-led series E fund raising at a valuation of over $1.5 billion.

Read more here

Join us in Bangkok the 19th to the 21st of March for the Property Portal Watch Conference.