'The Law of Origami' 20th Anniversary: Yanolja to Lead the Future of AI Travel

## Lee Su-jin, CEO of Yanolja, Beyond 20 Years of History to Become the Global No.1 Travel Tech Company If Korea's 2000s were called the 'era of platforms,' Yanolja stands at its center. On April 2nd, Yanolja's 20th-anniversary event, held at TenX Tower in Pangyo, was more than just a ceremony; it was an occasion to present the astonishing growth narrative and future vision of a startup. Approximately 4,000 employees joined both online and offline under the slogan 'Re:Imagine What is Possible,' with staff from various international locations including India, Indonesia, and Singapore participating, reflecting on how Yanolja has grown into a global company. CEO Lee Su-jin looked back at Yanolja's tumultuous 20-year history from the podium. Starting as a B2B website in a challenging environment in 2005, transitioning to B2C in 2007, and launching its mobile app in 2011. Then, in 2015, declaring a 'Restart,' it evolved into a 'super app' encompassing hotels, international accommodation, leisure, transportation, and air travel. This highlights how effectively Yanolja utilized 'bold pivots at the right time,' a key success factor for Korean IT startups. CEO Lee's voice conveyed a firm vision: "Leaping beyond a simple accommodation platform to become the Global No.1 Travel Tech Company." Cumulative investments of 2.5 trillion won and projected sales of 1 trillion won in 2025 underpin this confidence. Notably, the acquisition of Indian hotel solution company 'eZee Technosys' in 2019 and the establishment of a global data infrastructure covering 206 countries in 2023 prove that Yanolja is already operating beyond Korea on the world stage. Yanolja's envisioned future is a 'hyper-connector' combining AI and data. The vision to connect fragmented travel data worldwide into one is a highly challenging goal in an era of data sovereignty, but Yanolja has declared its ambition to tackle this by leveraging AI as its core driving force. The core of this is providing personalized generative AI services to travelers and AI agent solutions to businesses. The new brand identity, the 'Yanolja Orange' color, expresses a warm sensibility like a sunset encountered at a travel destination and is interpreted as a choice focused on enhancing brand recognition. At the event, plans for AI-based personalized services and business solutions were presented, along with the changes that cutting-edge technologies like AI, humanoids, and autonomous driving will bring to the travel industry. The congratulatory video that capped off the event underscored Yanolja's standing. Congratulatory messages from prominent domestic and international figures, including Korean Air CEO Woo Ki-hong, singer PSY, and Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, were featured. Especially, the congratulatory message displayed by Nasdaq on a Times Square billboard in New York showcased a moving moment where Yanolja, which began as a small motel community, was recognized for its achievements in the heart of global finance. CEO Lee emphasized the 'Law of Paper Folding' to employees, urging them to collectively build the future of the 'Global No.1 Travel Tech Company.' Just as he believes that small innovations will combine to create results beyond imagination, how much further can Yanolja 'fold the paper' of technology, data, and global networks? The next 10 years will provide the answer. Anticipation is high for how Yanolja's AI-driven future will transform the essence of travel, and for the journey ahead.