TripAdvisor Appoints Lily Cheng as President, APAC

TripAdvisor has appointed Lily Cheng as President, APAC.

Lily is responsible for driving TripAdvisor's growth in the Asia Pacific region through both organic growth and strategic partnerships, with a focus on China, Japan, and India.

Based in Beijing, Lily reports to Stephen Kaufer, President and CEO of TripAdvisor.

In addition to Lily’s current responsibilities leading TripAdvisor China under the Daodao brand (TripAdvisor’s Chinese website), she will oversee the growth of Kuxun, working closely with Ivan Zhang, CEO of Kuxun. She will also lead the company’s efforts to further accelerate growth in Asia Pacific and assume management responsibility for Japan and India.

Intra-APAC and APAC outbound travel to the rest of the world currently accounts for over one-third of the world’s air passenger traffic volume and over the next 15 years, more than 50%of the global growth in traffic volume is expected to come from APAC.

“We are pleased to welcome Lily to the TripAdvisor management team. She will play a key role at TripAdvisor as we continue to expand our global footprint as the world's largest travel site," said Steve Kaufer, President and CEO of TripAdvisor. “Asia Pacific is a vitally important region for TripAdvisor. With Lily’s experience, management skills and proven track record of success, I am confident that our APAC business will continue to thrive under her leadership.”

Lily Cheng

Lily joined TripAdvisor in 2010 as Senior Director, Strategy & Business Development, APAC, where she was an instrumental member of the team that established TripAdvisor’s regional presence in Singapore.

In 2011, she relocated to Beijing as Vice President, Strategy & Product Management, TripAdvisor China, to accelerate the company’s growth in mainland China. Then, in 2013, Lily was promoted to Managing Director, TripAdvisor China, to further build and lead the Daodao team in both China and the US.

Lily has extensive experience working in the travel industry. Prior to joining TripAdvisor, she served at Expedia Inc. between 2008 and 2010 in various capacities including managing global product development and marketing for Expedia's private label and affiliate business (EAN) as well as supporting Expedia's Asia Pacific expansion strategy including the early negotiations of the Expedia / AirAsia joint venture. She also served as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of eLong Inc., a leading online travel agency in China. Prior to Expedia, she was a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in Greater China in the Consumer Goods Practice.

In the early part of her career, Lily founded a technology start-up which pioneered using electromagnetic power technologies for wirelessly charging mobile devices with venture funding from Benchmark Capital.

She holds a Master's and Bachelor's degree in Engineering with Distinction from the University of Cambridge.