Airbnb finally appoints head of China operations
Airbnb has appointed a chief to run its business in China.
Hong Ge was named vice president of China for Airbnb after a long search.
It has taken about two years to formally appoint its first China operations head since it first entered the market in 2015.
"He has unparalleled knowledge of our product and what it needs to be in China, combining a deep technical expertise with an understanding of the local market," Airbnb said.
"We believe Ge’s expertise and experience will inject strong momentum for Airbnb’s China business."
Hong was previously product and engineering head of Airbnb China.
He has also worked in senior positions at Facebook and Google.
As Uber found out, the China market is a tough nut to crack and Airbnb had been ‘moving extremely slowly, carefully and deliberately,’ according to chief financial officer Laurence Tosi.
Tosi had been in charge of all China operations until Hong’s promotion.
Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb recently said growth of Airbnb in China more than doubled last year compared to 2015.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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