Sunil Suresh appointed chief marketing officer of MakeMyTrip, Goibibo

Gurugram-headquartered online travel company MakeMyTrip Group has appointed Sunil Suresh as the chief marketing officer for MakeMyTrip and travel services aggregator Goibibo. 

Suresh will lead the platforms' marketing efforts and provide support to achieving strategic objectives across branding, social media and other marketing channels, according to a statement issued by the company. 

Suresh was earlier the chief marketing and strategy officer at software solutions company Capillary Technologies. During his two-year stint there, Suresh worked on strategic transformation projects to drive growth and profits, the statement added. 

Suresh had also served as the chief digital officer at Yum! Brands, a Fortune 500 corporation that operates fast-food chains such as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. 

An alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Suresh also held various marketing positions at Unilever and HCL Infosystems. 

“With a unique blend of expertise in multiple domains, deep understanding of consumer behaviour and how businesses can leverage the power of digital, we are confident that Sunil Suresh will help propel MakeMyTrip’s next phase of growth,” said Vipul Prakash, chief operating officer, MakeMyTrip. 

MakeMyTrip was founded in 2000 by Deep Kalra, a former executive of  GE Capital and ABN AMRO Bank. Along with its eponymous platform, MakeMyTrip also operates platforms such as Goibibo and RedBus to offer air ticketing, hotel bookings, alternative accommodations, holiday packages, rail ticketing, bus ticketing, travel insurance and visa processing.

The appointment comes months after Chinese travel services corporation Ctrip International acquired majority stake in MakeMyTrip. Ctrip bought out media conglomerate Naspers’ entire stake in the travel portal. 

In June, TechCircle first reported that MakeMyTrip-backed travel technology startup GoFro, which was operated by Bona Vita Technologies, has gone offline. 

Homegrown travel platform and MakeMyTrip competitor Yatra Online had recently announced strategic appointments. The Gurugram-based travel platform appointed former Hewlett Packard Enterprise executive Neelam Dhawan as independent director. Earlier, Sean Aggarwal, former chief financial officer of real-estate firm Trulia, was also appointed to Yatra Online’s board of directors.