Didi Chuxing was said to have suspended the hotel and travel business recently and transferred key personnel of those divisions to the government relations department, while other staff members had been reassigned or laid off.
Didi began to extend from ticketing services and ventured into the hotel and travel business in the second half of 2017. However, a second murder case involving Didi’s popular hitch-hiking service put paid to its ambition in hotel and travel business, originally scheduled to launch in the autumn of 2018.
Didi declined to comment on the reports.
Didi shut down its takeaway services last February, despite having expanded the service to five cities. It was Didi’s first non-ride related service to have been discontinued.
Insiders of Didi said that the company was still in the process of improving the safety of the hitch-hiking service, and at the same time quickly deploying in the shared bicycle business. In Beijing, Didi has replaced old bluegogo bikes with brand-new Qingji Bike.
Didi’s financial situation drew negative speculations though it has adjusted and downsized its business. Earlier this year, Didi was reported to have sustained steep losses of 10.9 billion yuan in 2018, and has been in the red for six years. (Translated by Elena)
