Yanolja Group is a global travel technology company that uses AI and cloud-based platforms to provide personalized travel experiences and operational efficiencies for both travelers and hospitality businesses. To gain a deeper understanding of the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Jeff Kim, the CEO of Yanolja Cloud and Yanolja Group CSO.
Jeff Kim’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Kim said:
“I joined Yanolja in 2015 as the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and shortly thereafter, in 2016, I took on the role of Chief Business Officer (CBO). Currently, I serve as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Yanolja Cloud and Yanolja Group CSO. In my role, I lead the global enterprise solutions business at Yanolja, where we are focused on developing an AI-powered data enablement platform. This platform aims to enable fully autonomous hotel operations, alongside travel-specific generative AI services.”
“Prior to joining Yanolja, I garnered deep experience at Google and McKinsey & Company, where I had the opportunity to study a broad spectrum of companies throughout the tech industry. It was during this time that I realized we are in a period of accelerating digital transformation, and there was an opportunity to lead industry disruption with AI and data. Historically, this type of digital disruption was often neglected by large corporations. I experienced firsthand how tech startups are able to strengthen their innovation DNA, even after they scale. These previous roles gave me invaluable experience in strategically supporting startups as they transform into leading global tech companies, something I’ve applied and will continue to do with Yanolja.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Kim shared:
“Yanolja’s founding story is one of inspiration and resilience. Sujin Lee, our founder and CEO, began working as a hotel janitor. During this time, he observed the operational challenges within the hospitality industry firsthand and saw an opportunity to improve the connectivity across the value chain and streamline the end-to-end travel experience.”
“His vision inspired the founding of Yanolja in 2005, an online accommodation community that within 10 years would become Korea’s leading travel booking platform. Fast forward to today, Yanolja has accomplished its ‘Restart’ initiative, evolving from an accommodation super-app into a global leader in travel technology and vertical A. The company now encompasses all aspects of travel, including leisure, transportation and flights, serving as a “hyper-connector” that seamlessly links travelers, places and experiences through data and AI. Yanolja connects with more than 1.33 million hotels and travel enterprises across 206 countries worldwide, and partners with over 21,000 travel sales channels, including booking platforms and travel agencies as well as tour operators and bedbanks.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Kim explained:
“Yanolja is redefining the global travel ecosystem with an AI-powered data enablement platform that enhances efficiency, connectivity, and personalization throughout the travel experience. Our comprehensive suite of full self-operation and travel-specific generative AI services enhances experiences for travelers through providing personalized travel experiences from pre-trip planning to in-trip support.”
“For example, during the pre-trip planning stage, Yanolja’s services can automatically generate travel itineraries tailored to individual preferences, matching individual preferences with real-time inventory, including room availability and dynamic pricing. While on a trip, Yanolja’s services can auto check-in/check-out with cloud-based kiosks, as well as provide an AI concierge service providing travelers with recommendations and suggestions to enhance the experience trip. For travel enterprises, Yanolja streamlines customer service and the automation of operational processes, leading to increased efficiency and convenience. We do this through offerings such as our cloud-based kiosk, which enables auto check-in/check-out, and our AI concierge service.”
“Our proprietary data infrastructure powers these AI-powered solutions that revolutionize operations for our customers and improve the overall traveler experience. Additionally, we’ve established strategic collaborations with global AI leaders like Google Cloud and OpenAI to advance these services and drive further digital transformation in travel. Through these collaborations, Yanolja is shaping the future of automated and intelligent travel experiences for both travelers and travel enterprises worldwide.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Kim noted:
“While Yanolja began as Korea’s leading travel booking platform, we’ve since transformed into a global leader in travel technology, leveraging our AI-powered data enablement platform to drive efficiencies for travel enterprises and improve the end-to-end experience for travelers. Our pioneering work launching AI and data solutions has helped stimulate our growth and continues to present strong opportunities. For example, revenue from our AI data services increased from 14% of our enterprise solution revenue in Q1 2024 to 25% in Q4 2024. Our impressive growth has fueled our global expansion, with over 4,000 employees in offices across 28 countries. While our offerings have broadened, our mission remains the same: make travel easier, more convenient, and redefine the joy of travel for both travelers and travel operators.”
Revenue
When asking Kim about the company’s revenue, he revealed:
“Yanolja is driving sustainable growth and profitability while revolutionizing the travel industry through fully automated and personalized travel services powered by AI. Yanolja achieved extraordinary growth in 2024 with aggregate total transaction value (TTV) increasing 186% year-over-year to reach $18.3 billion, demonstrating its expanding market presence and business momentum across 200+ countries. Its Enterprise Solutions segment is a primary growth engine, recording 62% revenue growth year-over-year with room to grow. Enterprise Solutions Adjusted EBITDA was $ 45.8 million, up 295% compared to 2023, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin was 23.1%, showcasing our substantial scale and growth potential.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Kim assessed:
“In 2024, the total addressable market of the global travel industry reached $2.8 trillion, with online travel accounting for approximately 20% of this. Successfully digitalizing the travel industry presents a significant opportunity for substantial growth and profitability. With our massive network and growing access to data, we are poised to continue our global expansion, partnering with more enterprises and more sales channels to capture additional share in the trillion-dollar travel industry.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Kim affirmed:
“What makes our business truly unique is our AI-powered data enablement platform. Yanolja has access to a massive pool of proprietary data from our expansive data infrastructure that enables us to deliver highly efficient and profitable AI-driven Enterprise Solutions tailored specifically for the global travel ecosystem. This owned, streamlined data flow is made possible thanks to our leading, global cloud-based software business that’s connected with 21,000 sales channels in more than 200 countries. Not only does this end-to-end data flow make an impact on the overall travel value chain, but it also allows us to enhance profitability better than other businesses trying to create data or artificial intelligence services.”
“For most companies, collecting data and acquiring customers are the most difficult and costly tasks. Unlike our competitors or peers, Yanolja is already well-equipped with an enormous customer base and massive access to proprietary data. It’s the reason why we have continued to profit from our Enterprise business, which is unique in the technology space. In addition, we continue to make large and consistent investments into global data security and data protection to ensure our platform is trusted and secure for enterprises and travelers worldwide.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the future company goals? Kim concluded:
“Over the past two decades, our primary focus has been on establishing a global presence. This enables us to directly connect every property, sales channel, and traveler. Our goal is to build a high-quality dataset and a proprietary, streamlined data flow that enhances efficiency and service quality by directly linking properties and travelers. We’ve also developed an AI-powered data enablement platform that specializes in vertical AI to help every property achieve full self-operation as well as offer travel-specific generative AI services for global travelers. By redefining the travel industry with AI technology and proprietary travel-specific data, we aim to make travel easier, more convenient, and redefine the joy of travel for both travelers and travel operators.”
