China’s ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has received a US$500 million investment from NASDAQ-listed online accommodations and travel e-commerce firm Booking Holdings as a part of a strategic partnership.
Under the partnership, DiDi and Booking Holdings will leverage their technology capabilities and local operating expertise to offer more comprehensive and personalized quality travel experiences across the world.
With the partnership, Booking Holdings brands will have the ability to offer on-demand car service through their apps, powered by DiDi, and DiDi customers will have the option to book hotels through Booking.com or Agoda.
Stephen Zhu, Vice President for Strategy of Didi Chuxing, said, "Building on its leadership and expertise in the global online travel market, Booking is championing a digital revolution of travel experience. We look forward to seamlessly connecting every segment of the journey and improving everyone’s traveling experience through more collaborative innovation with the Booking brands on product, technology and market development.”
Booking Holdings serves customers and partners in over 220 countries through six primary brands including Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline, Agoda, Rentalcars and OpenTable.
In 2015, Didi’s rival Uber established a similar partnership with Hilton that enables push notifications for Hilton guests to ease hailing Uber rides to and from the chain’s hotels worldwide.
