Yanolja Wins Gold Stevie® Award at the 2026 International Business Awards

Yanolja, a leading global travel tech company led by CEO Sujin Lee, announced today that it has been named a Gold Stevie® Winner in the 'Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year' category at the 2026 International Business Awards (IBA). Now in its 23rd year, the International Business Awards is a premier global business awards program honoring the achievements and innovative contributions of organizations worldwide. This year’s competition received more than 3,400 nominations from organizations across 82 nations and territories. Winners were selected following a comprehensive judging process by an international panel of over 210 expert professionals. Yanolja joined a distinguished lineup of global recipients, including Cisco, IBM, and DHL, underscoring its standing as a global tech powerhouse. Yanolja received the top Gold award in the 'Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year' category in recognition of its structural transformation of the travel industry, driven by its unmatched global travel data infrastructure and integrated AI capabilities. This accolade reflects Yanolja's continuous efforts to shape the global travel landscape through its hospitality solutions—which support operations for travel providers worldwide—and its transaction solutions, which bridge travel suppliers with sales channels globally. In particular, Yanolja focuses on boosting productivity and operational efficiency across the travel ecosystem by pairing its proprietary data infrastructure with advanced AI technology. The company provides travel operators with actionable AI solutions—such as demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, and automated operations—while simultaneously shaping a travel ecosystem that offers consumers smoother, more convenient journeys. Across Yanolja Group’s global subsidiaries, enterprise capabilities are focused on advancing vertical AI technologies specifically tailored to the travel industry, moving beyond simple feature enhancements to drive true domain-specific innovation. "This award is an international recognition of our dedication to solving structural inefficiencies in the global travel industry through data and technology," said a representative from Yanolja. "Moving forward, we will continue to enhance our global travel data infrastructure and AI competitiveness to empower travel businesses with greater operational efficiency, creating an environment where anyone, anywhere can travel with ease and convenience."

Yanolja Cloud Solution Expands Global Customer Success

Yanolja, a global travel technology company, today announced that Yanolja Cloud Solution (YCS), a member company specializing in cloud-based hospitality solutions, is accelerating data-driven innovation in hotel operations based on measurable performance improvements achieved by hotel customers worldwide. Building on these results, YCS continues to strengthen its position as an enterprise solutions partner that goes beyond technology deployment to help customers improve both operational efficiency and profitability. Through enterprise solutions member companies including YCS and Sanha IT, Yanolja provides an integrated, full-stack solution that brings together core hotel technologies that have traditionally operated in silos, including Property Management Systems (PMS), Channel Managers (CM), real-time Booking Engines (BE) and Point-of-Sale (POS) solutions. By connecting previously fragmented systems and data, Yanolja helps address a longstanding challenge across the global hospitality industry while automating processes spanning reservations, room management and revenue optimization to maximize operational efficiency. YCS continues to deliver its solutions across diverse hotel operating environments worldwide, generating tangible improvements in customers’ operational efficiency and profitability. Sinabung Hills Diamond Hotel in Indonesia and Brentwood Inn & Suites in the United States are among the representative examples, with both properties improving revenue and key room performance metrics through data-driven operations. Following the implementation of YCS solutions and the enhancement of its operating systems, Sinabung Hills Diamond Hotel reported an approximately 9.5% quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue in the second quarter of this year. During the same period, occupancy reached 70%, up 15.5 percentage points from the previous quarter, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 10.4%, demonstrating improvements in both operational efficiency and profitability. Brentwood Inn & Suites also recorded significant performance gains. Revenue in the second quarter of this year increased 68.7% compared with the first quarter, while occupancy rose 7.1 percentage points and RevPAR increased 50.4%. The results demonstrate how improvements to hotel operations enabled by integrated technology can translate into measurable business performance. Beyond providing technology solutions, YCS supports customers throughout their digital transformation journeys with consulting, staff training and technical support tailored to each property’s operating environment and business needs. Through this approach, YCS is building long-term partnerships that support customers’ sustainable growth, while continuing to advance toward AI agent-powered hotel operations by leveraging accumulated operational data and its technology capabilities. “Digital transformation in the hotel industry is about more than simply adopting new systems. The key is to connect data across operations and turn it into tangible business outcomes,” said a Yanolja spokesperson. “Powered by our global enterprise solutions and AI technologies, Yanolja will continue to strengthen the operational competitiveness of travel businesses around the world and expand a global travel tech ecosystem in which we grow together with our customers.”

NOL UNIVERSE to Develop Travel-Specific AI Agent in Partnership with NIA

NOL UNIVERSE announced today that it will develop a travel-specific AI agent and dedicated tools with support from the Korean government, aimed at delivering more intuitive and accessible AI-powered travel experiences. By developing an AI agent purpose-built for travel, one of the most in-demand consumer sectors, the company also plans to help foster a broader ecosystem for AI-powered travel services. NOL UNIVERSE, led by CEO Chulwoong Lee, has been selected to participate in a Korean government initiative to develop and advance high-demand, consumer-facing AI agents and agent tools. The initiative is led by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and administered by the National Information Society Agency (NIA). With a total project budget of approximately KRW 5.1 billion, including Korean government funding and private-sector contributions, the project aims to develop a travel-specific AI agent and eight dedicated Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools designed to enable innovative, consumer-facing travel experiences. MCP is a standard that enables AI systems to connect with external services and tools and invoke the capabilities they need. NOL UNIVERSE plans to complete development of the AI agent and eight dedicated tools by the end of this year, followed by continued enhancement and application of the project’s outcomes through 2031. “Through this project, we will leverage NOL UNIVERSE’s technology capabilities and travel infrastructure to build a travel-specific AI agent that delivers practical, meaningful value to people in their everyday travel experiences,” said Youngjin Kim, CTO of NOL UNIVERSE.

Yanolja Cloud Solution Introduces AI Concierge for Hotel Operations

Yanolja, a global travel technology company, today announced the global rollout of an AI concierge solution developed by its hospitality technology subsidiary, Yanolja Cloud Solution (YCS), following a preview program across more than 1,000 hotels in India. The solution will expand to Thailand, the United States, Malaysia and Africa. "As AI reshapes the hospitality industry, hotels are looking beyond automation to intelligent systems that can execute operational tasks and elevate the guest experience," said Aeijaz Sodawala, CEO of Yanolja Cloud Solution. "Our AI concierge brings together specialized AI agents, real-time operational data and deep hospitality expertise to simplify daily operations, empower hotel staff and deliver more seamless guest experiences." Hotels are increasingly adopting AI to automate repetitive operational tasks while enabling staff to focus on higher-value guest interactions. According to YCS, a typical 25-room hotel spends up to eight hours each day handling routine guest communications, including reservation inquiries, check-in and check-out requests, and room service coordination. Purpose-built for hotel operations, the AI concierge is powered by a multi-agent architecture in which eight specialized AI agents collaborate across core functions, including guest communications, reservations, check-in and check-out, housekeeping, room service, payments and upselling. Through direct integration with the YCS Property Management System (PMS), the solution accesses real-time reservation and room availability data to execute operational tasks rather than simply respond to guest inquiries. Guests can interact with the AI concierge through WhatsApp or a web-based Guest Portal to confirm reservations, complete digital check-in, request hotel services and make payments. When human assistance is needed, conversations can be seamlessly transferred to hotel staff in real time.

Yanolja Partners Launches Hostel Brand STAY ARIJAE

Yanolja Partners, a hotel development consulting company under global travel tech group Yanolja, has launched STAY ARIJAE, a new hostel brand, as it expands its consulting services for hostel owners and operators. As more international visitors travel to Korea and travel styles continue to diversify, interest is growing in a broader range of accommodation options, including hostels. Compared with small and mid-sized hotels, hostels can accommodate a wider mix of travelers through shared spaces and community-oriented experiences, while offering greater flexibility in room configurations and operating models. This has made hostels an increasingly attractive option for businesses looking to serve inbound travelers, with more owners entering the market through new developments or by converting existing lodging properties into hostels. In response to these shifts, Yanolja Partners launched STAY ARIJAE to help owners develop and operate hostel businesses with greater confidence through specialized consulting services. Yanolja Partners brings expertise gained from new development and renovation consulting for approximately 680 branded hotels. Drawing on this experience, the company supports the full development process — from location analysis and brand planning to spatial design, room configuration, and guest experience design — helping owners build more competitive hospitality businesses. STAY ARIJAE brings together Korean sensibilities and natural connections among travelers through a contemporary approach to hostel design. Its logo draws inspiration from the layers of time found in stone, traditional roof tiles, and tree rings. The brand’s design language reinterprets familiar Korean aesthetics through contemporary proportions, materials, and restrained details, creating a quiet yet refined atmosphere. Natural wood and warm-textured materials create a comfortable foundation, while STAY ARIJAE’s signature blue adds a distinctive accent throughout the space. Contemporary and youthful elements keep the traditional references light and approachable, resulting in spaces that feel both calm and current. Together, these elements create a new kind of hostel experience where Korean sensibilities and traveler interaction come naturally together. Unlike a conventional franchise model, Yanolja Partners focuses on brand, design, and consulting, without ongoing franchise fees or royalties. Owners can draw on Yanolja Partners’ brand development expertise, design guidelines, and spatial planning while retaining the freedom to choose their own contractors, operating models, and procurement partners based on their individual business needs. For owners seeking hotel technology solutions such as property management systems (PMS), Yanolja Partners can also connect them with Sanha Information Technology, Yanolja’s hospitality solutions member company, to implement solutions tailored to their operating environment. This allows owners to access support across the full journey from development through day-to-day operations. Alongside the launch of STAY ARIJAE, Yanolja Partners is expanding its network of brand partners. The company has signed brand agreements for four locations: STAY ARIJAE Seoul Jamsil, followed by STAY ARIJAE Seoul Seongsu, STAY ARIJAE Seoul Hwanghak, and STAY ARIJAE Iksan Station. Yanolja Partners will provide consulting on spatial planning, design, and operational direction for each property, taking into account the location, surrounding market, and characteristics of each building. “Interest in the hostel market continues to grow as international travel to Korea increases and travel styles become more diverse,” said a Yanolja Partners representative. “With our experience in hospitality development consulting and brand building, we aim to help more owners successfully enter the hostel market while contributing to greater competitiveness across Korea’s hospitality industry.”