Ex-Airbnb global operations head joins Royal Caribbean Group

The former global head of operations at Airbnb has been appointed to the board of Royal Caribbean Group.

Tara Bunch, who has more than 40 years’ experience in the tech industry, oversaw customer service, trust and safety, privacy, payments, insurance and quality for hosts and guests for the home-sharing platform in more than 220 countries and regions.

She joined Airbnb in 2020 having held senior leadership roles at Apple for eight years and Hewlett-Packard for more than 25 years, where she led multiple areas, including global customer service, technical support, repair operations, product development and technology-enabled services.

Bunch also serves on the board of investment management company The Vanguard Group where she is a member of the audit committee.

Royal Caribbean Group chairman and chief executive Jason Liberty said: "Tara is a seasoned global executive with deep global experience in scaling technology-enabled service models and delivering exceptional customer experiences. 

“Her perspective will be highly valuable as we continue to grow our vacation ecosystem and deliver the best vacations responsibly for guests around the world."

Bunch, who holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, said on LinkedIn: “Excited to be joining the Royal Caribbean team.”