Bakatio (Finehost): AI Championship 3rd Place Triumph

Travel tech innovation company Vacatio's AI accommodation operating system 'FineHost' has proven its technological prowess by securing 3rd place (Minister of Science and ICT Award, AI Challenger Award) after fierce competition at the 2025 Korea AI Championship. This is a remarkable achievement, making it to the finals among 630 teams nationwide and being recognized for its industrial applicability and business potential in AI. The 'AI Voice-based Hotel Operating System (VUI-based FineHost PMS)' introduced by Vacatio is changing the paradigm of accommodation operations. With simple natural language commands like "Tell me today's occupancy rate" or "Increase the price by 15%", it can easily manage reservations, pricing, reviews, promotions, and even room cleaning status. It combines advanced AI technologies such as Speech-to-Text (STT), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), and policy graphs to grasp the operator's intent in real-time, minimize errors through mutual verification among AI agents, and increase system stability with a rollback-capable orchestration structure. Vacatio CEO Ji Hyun-jun emphasized that this award officially recognizes Vacatio as a leader driving innovation in traditional industries with AI, going beyond being a mere accommodation solutions company. He particularly articulated a vision that Voice User Interface (VUI)-based operations will become a core technology to solve chronic problems in the accommodation industry, such as an aging society, language barriers, and technology gaps, and further enhance the productivity of the entire local tourism ecosystem. With this award, Vacatio has secured up to 500 million KRW in R&D support, and FineHost's next-generation VUI-based PMS technology is already actively being demonstrated in locations like Korea, Japan, and Hawaii. The company plans to showcase its innovation to the global market by exhibiting at CES in 2026. Under the mission "Make life as exciting as a trip, and trips as comfortable as life," Vacatio has focused on resolving inefficiencies in the travel industry through AI and design. Through 'FineHost,' an AI SaaS currently used by over 1,500 domestic accommodations, it has recorded an annual transaction volume of 50 billion KRW, and last year, it secured Series A investment of 6 billion KRW, demonstrating a unique presence in the tourism tech sector.