Dida and Tsinghua strike five-year travel tech alliance

Five-year pact to accelerate travel AI and talent

Dida has formalised a multi-year agreement with Tsinghua x‑lab, the innovation and entrepreneurship platform at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The signing brought together Professor He Ping, vice dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, and Daryl Lee, group chief executive of Dida Holdings. The deal shifts previous ad‑hoc exchanges into an ecosystem‑level integration, aiming to bring academic research closer to the operational needs of travel players. The partners say the objective is to speed up the development and scaling of solutions, many of them powered by artificial intelligence, with the signing in Beijing attended by more than 80 international hotel partners.

The framework rests on three pillars: research and development in travel technology; incubation to accelerate industry–university projects from concept to market‑ready solutions; and talent development to align young professionals’ skills with industry demand. The partners want to combine Tsinghua’s academic strengths with Dida’s global distribution infrastructure. The group also announces a new edition of the Global Travel Technology Innovation Competition set to take place in Europe later this year, designed to surface ideas from young talent worldwide and support the international expansion of Chinese innovation.

Helping to shape the future of travel

Tsinghua x‑lab highlights its mission to support creative and entrepreneurial talent and sees Dida’s resources as a way to expose students to real‑world problems. “Tsinghua x‑lab has long been a cradle for interdisciplinary talent,” said He. “Dida’s expansive resources and cutting-edge work in travel tech provide our students with a unique platform to tackle real-world industry challenges.”

Dida, for its part, views the agreement as a route to a stronger talent pipeline. “Young minds are a key driver of development,” said Lee. “Dida is committed to reinvesting its resources and platform capabilities into the next generation. We are not just supporting projects; we are helping shape the future of travel.”

The collaboration builds on existing work: at the end of 2025, Dida and Tsinghua co‑organised the “Dida × Tsinghua SDG Open Hack 2025”. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Shenzhen, Dida describes itself as an AI‑first global travel technology group operating Dida Hotels, Dida Flights, Dida Go and Dida Experiences. The company connects high‑quality travel content from hotels, airlines and ancillary providers to agencies, TMCs, tour operators, OTAs and wholesalers worldwide, integrating deep partnerships with cutting‑edge technology.