One month ago，Ctrip announced the acquisition of eLong together with Plateno and other investors。After the news of the acquisition was announced，Liang Jianzhang said in an email to the Ctrip team：

Elong will continue to focus on being a global hotel booking expert for Chinese people，Positioning of hotel experts，Created some of the most successful e-commerce companies in the world，such as Booking.com。In China，The positioning of this hotel expert will definitely have a bright future。

Liang Jianzhang’s statement，It has also led to speculation that eLong will continue to shrink its product line after the acquisition，To focus on the hotel business。

According to Global Travel News，Ctrip’188bet app download s integration of eLong has been launched recently。Unsurprisingly, eLong’s ticket product team was cut first，Team personnel will be integrated with Ctrip。

An employee who has resigned from eLong told Global Travel News: “ELong’s layoffs started in early June。The first is the layoff of personnel in the ticket business product department，Those who are willing to stay will be transferred to Ctrip，If you are not willing, you will automatically resign，And compensate according to the N+3 plan。”

He also analyzed: this layoff operation，Cui Guangfu executed very resolutely，Internally, the air ticket product line team will be abolished by the end of June，In this way, eLong can save a lot of operating expenses and labor expenses for air ticket products，Q3、The financial figures in Q4 will be much better。

The above person stated，The entire eLong air ticket product department has nearly 50 employees，Mainly responsible for the operation of air ticket products，And daily and airlines、Air ticket wholesaler communication。As understood，ELong is in 8 cities across the country，Including Beijing、Shanghai、Guangzhou、Shenzhen、Hangzhou、Chengdu、Nanjing、Wuhan and other cities have air ticket agency licenses。

In the age of Expedia control，Although Cui Guangfu is pursuing the strategy of “focusing on hotel business”，But because of the long-term accumulation of business travel users，Elong’s ticket booking volume is still very impressive，According to eLong’s 2014 annual report，The number of air tickets booked in 2014 was approximately 3.3 million，8% increase over 2013。

According to the estimate of the resigned employee，Because eLong’s ticket issuance has already been automated，So even if the air ticket business line is cancelled，The front-end flight booking business will not be affected。And related to airlines、Maintenance functions of wholesalers，It will be taken over by the corresponding department of Ctrip。According to Global Travel News，Elong’s air ticket business will retain the booking function of the user terminal and key member-related services，And other functions，For example, delivery and refund, change and rebooking services will be gradually integrated with Ctrip。

Global Travel News asked eLong’s public relations staff for confirmation on the layoffs，The public relations officer declined the reporter’s interview request.

Predictable，The 188bet online sports betting axing of the air ticket business line is the first step for Ctrip to integrate eLong。If Ctrip’188bet app download s integration of eLong’s air ticket business focuses more on improving efficiency and optimizing costs，Then the top priority facing the hotel business is not efficiency，But how to join forces to compete against the biggest competitor Qunar，And win this battle，It means that Ctrip’s investment in eLong can be successful，Elong’s existence as an independent listed company is valuable。

Whether this integration is a blessing or a curse for the long-term development of eLong，Still remains to be seen。However，The story that happened in the US OTA market is a mirror for eLong: Travelocity before it was acquired by Expedia，After outsourcing all product procurement and IT platform operations and support to Expedia,They only left themselves an empty shell，Being sold to Expedia is almost the only option。