AI services you should be using in the travel industry right now
⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting.
In this edition of Weekly ON
🏨 Top 5 AI services you should use in travel right now
💡 "Can't afford to travel" — demand slump hits the sector
⌨️ #FallAccoPass #AirbnbRegistrationMandate #NaverAIReviews #ChuseokPensionDemand #GlobalOTARecovery
🏠 Industry Talk
Top 5 AI Tools for Travel Pros (feat. Real Paid-User Experience)
What if you could offload those repetitive tasks — the time-sinks — to AI?
Today we're spotlighting AI tools that actually move the needle for people working in travel.
Every tool on this list I've paid for out of pocket and used myself. Full disclosure: I was skeptical at first ("Will AI really help?"). Now I can't work without them. Also — I deliberately left out ChatGPT because everyone already knows about it. 🙂
Google Gemini: Research and Image Generation Powerhouse
What takes longest when you're creating travel content? Research. Finding "10 Hidden Gems in Jeju" means hours trawling portal sites, reading blogs, comparing reviews.
Google Gemini just rolled out Deep Search and an image generator (nicknamed "Nanovana" in Korean circles), and it's causing a sensation. The image tool especially — people are calling it "Photoshop by text" because it's that revolutionary.
Traditional AI image generators spit out something different every time, making it hard to get what you want. Gemini lets you generate an image, then edit it by describing what to change: "Make the sky bluer," "Remove that building on the right." You can iterate until it's exactly what you need. Perfect for travel promo visuals.
In practice, this is a godsend for quick local research when planning packages, or whipping up social thumbnails. Saves you photostock fees, gives you images tailored to your concept. Win-win.
Claude: Your Reliable Writing Partner
Travel industry folks write constantly. Product descriptions, blog posts, customer notices, proposals. Starting from a blank page every time is exhausting.
This is where Claude shines. Feed it your Gemini research, then say: "Write this as an emotional Jeju travelogue for women in their 20s." It'll give you something that reads like a human wrote it — natural, engaging.
Claude excels at tone. Formal proposals, friendly travel reviews — it adapts to the context. The new Artifact feature even lets you build simple infographics. Once you have a draft, tweak it to taste. Writing time drops dramatically. FYI: Claude wrote 80%+ of this newsletter.
There are more AI tools covering video editing, presentation design, workflow automation — tons of applications for travel pros 👇
👉<Keep reading>
💡 Hospitality Trends
"Can't Afford to Travel" — Demand Softens
TL;DR: Leisure spending and intent both declining — travel demand looks shaky.
The story: Consumer Insight's biannual survey shows that 32% of Koreans increased leisure spending over the past year (H1 2025) — down 7 percentage points from three years ago. 53% said spending stayed flat, up from 45%, but adjusted for inflation that's effectively a cut.
Future outlook is gloomier. Only 31% plan to spend more — down 13 points since 2022. Seven in ten say they'll cut back or hold steady.
By age: Gen Z and Millennials are still relatively bullish, especially women in their 20s. But spending intent among people in their 40s and families with young children dropped sharply — bad news for family travel demand.
⌨️ In Brief
1️⃣ Fall Accommodation Pass 👉[Full story]
TL;DR: 870,000 accommodation vouchers issued for H2
The story: The fall round of Korea's accommodation subsidy program (숙세페) will distribute 870,000 vouchers — well above the original plan. Analysis shows each voucher drives ₩12.8 in consumer spending. Critics note uneven distribution (some regions/properties benefit more) and low uptake among older users.
2️⃣ Airbnb Registration Mandate 👉[Full story]
TL;DR: Airbnb enforces business registration requirement
The story: Airbnb is enacting the final phase of its July 2024 unregistered-listing purge policy. Hosts must submit valid business registration documents by October 16, 8 AM KST. Properties that miss the deadline won't be able to accept bookings for stays on or after January 1, 2026.
3️⃣ Chuseok Pension Surge 👉[Full story]
TL;DR: Chuseok holiday — pension bookings explode
The story: Domestic travel is booming for the Chuseok holiday. Pension booking platform Nolyuniverse reports a 10× year-over-year jump in bookings for October 3–9. Premium options (pool villas, oceanfront, private-pool, standalone pensions) are booking 20%+ faster than standard properties.
4️⃣ Naver AI Review Summaries 👉[Full story]
TL;DR: Naver AI review summaries coming to lodging
The story: Naver's "Place AI Briefing" feature increased user dwell time by 10.4% and CTR by 27.4% for businesses where it's live. Naver plans to roll it out to more verticals — lodging, beauty, attractions — soon.
5️⃣ Global OTA Recovery 👉[Full story]
TL;DR: Global OTAs bounce back bigger than before
The story: Global OTAs recovered from the pandemic slump fast and are once again the gravitational center of travel. Among inbound tourists to Korea, 82.6% used a global OTA pre-trip. Booking.com, Agoda, and Trip.com led the pack.