Tripadvisor makes senior appointments to deliver media marketplace vision

Former Airbnb 'visionary' Sanjay Rama and experienced leader Kristen Dalton will work to put travellers and partners at the heart of the business

Tripadvisor has made two senior appointments to lead the review site's evolution into a modern media travel marketplace.

Former senior Airbnb product executive Sanjay Raman, described by Tripadvisor as a “visionary”, has been brought in as chief product officer.

And Kristen Dalton has been promoted from vice president of financial planning and analysis to chief operating officer for the Tripadvisor core business.

Tripadvisor said Raman will “drive innovation, development and iterative improvements” for its suite of products and services for travellers, diners and partners, including accommodation providers, restaurants and advertisers. 

He joined Tripadvisor last month after having served in key product roles, most recently at Airbnb and Houzz.  

While at Greylock, he led investments in several early-stage consumer marketplaces. Raman started his product career at Google where he led teams on the Google Video and Google Apps products.

Dalton will be responsible for strategy development and operational planning and execution.  

She originally joined Tripadvisor in 2019 and has previously headed up financial planning and analysis and served as interim leader of the Tripadvisor B2C organisation. 

Dalton’s previous experience includes strategy and finance leadership roles at Vistaprint, Chubb, and AXA Equitable.  She started her career at Ernst & Young. 

Matt Goldberg, Tripadvisor Group chief executive, said: “Placing the traveller and our partners at the heart of everything we do, is a key component of our strategy. 

“I’m excited to announce the appointments of these two executives, whose deep leadership experience building consumer internet businesses and scaling digital media and marketplace products will help us deliver on our strategy.

“With the addition of a product visionary like Sanjay and a strategic operator like Kristen, we believe we are well positioned to execute on our strategic vision for Tripadvisor.”

Raman said: “I join this company with a passion for innovation and a dedication to ensuring the travellers and partners we serve always have a positive experience when using our travel tools, engaging with our community and leveraging our numerous services to ensure we live up to our potential as the most trusted, most important travel guidance platform in the world 

"I'm excited about the opportunity to help Tripadvisor reinforce its leadership in our sector."

Dalton added: “Tripadvisor is such an important brand to travellers around the world, and we have an incredible legacy as a company. 

“Our work has an impact on how people experience the world and the businesses that make meaningful travel possible. 

“We are bringing together the best people and strategy to deliver on our next chapter of growth. I am incredibly proud to partner with our leadership team to deliver on our brand promise and provide value to our partners.”