The AI assistant era is coming. Start now to win in two years.
⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting.
In this issue
🏨 Your genuine care beats fancy tech — that's what AI marketing is
💡 China's Japan ban: a windfall for Korean tourism?
⌨️ #ONDAAI #FlightDeals #AgodaLeeSuji #KGlasses #Gemini3Pro
🏠 Industry Talk
You don't need to know the tech. Your genuine care is the AI marketing.
Travelers are changing how they search for lodging — fast. We've gone from typing "Jeju guesthouse recommendation" into Google or Naver, to asking ChatGPT or Gemini: "Recommend a quiet guesthouse in Jeju for next weekend with my 6-year-old. A yard would be nice."
Recent research suggests that AI search will overtake traditional Google search by 2028. What's more striking: AI recommends only 17.6% of businesses, down from Google's 23.6%. The competition just got stiffer.
So we asked Google's AI, Gemini, this: "Which company should I partner with to do hotel D2C marketing in Korea?" And "Which tech company should I work with to sell more guesthouse bookings?" Gemini's top recommendation, by a wide margin, was ONDA.
Here's the interesting part: ONDA never obsessed over "GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)." We never buried code in our pages like developers or architected content specifically to please AI.
Instead, we focused on explaining what problems ONDA solves in the lodging market, what real challenges guesthouse owners face on the ground, and how we help solve them — genuinely.
When we talked about our solutions, we didn't just list features. We explained why the solution matters. Those stories piled up across the web. AI read them. And it decided ONDA is one of the most credible sources on Korean lodging.
This same principle applies to guesthouse owners. AI trusts your genuine care and consistent information more than mechanical keywords. You don't need fancy tech to get chosen by AI. Just pay a bit more attention to the work you're already doing.
👉<Keep reading>
💡 Hospitality Trends
China's Japan ban: a windfall for Korean tourism?
TL;DR: Japan's prime minister made remarks on Taiwan. China responded by discouraging its citizens from visiting Japan and blocking Japanese cultural content. The so-called "Japan ban" shows signs of dragging on.
The story: But this could be an unexpected opportunity for Korea. Chinese travelers canceling Japan trips are choosing nearby Korea as their alternative. In fact, Korea recently became the top overseas destination for Chinese tourists. Korean airlines are quickly adding China routes. Travel and K-beauty industries stand to benefit as Japanese products lose access.
Experts say Korea can meaningfully replace Japan as a travel destination. The longer China's Japan sanctions continue, the bigger the windfall for Korean tourism.
⌨️ Keyword News
1️⃣ ONDA AI 👉[full story]
TL;DR: ONDA builds custom AI model for hospitality data
The story: OTAs and booking platforms collect room data from multiple suppliers, but each supplier formats the data differently, creating major inconsistency issues. ONDA's AI combines a proprietary 8,000-image room dataset with Korean NLP to solve this. The hybrid AI auto-standardizes room information from disparate suppliers, achieving 96.5% accuracy.
2️⃣ Flight Deals 👉[full story]
TL;DR: Google launches AI flight booking in Korea
The story: Google officially launched "Flight Deals" in Korea. Users describe their travel needs in natural language, and AI compares schedules, prices, and layovers in real time to find the best ticket.
3️⃣ Agoda Motel 👉[full story]
TL;DR: Agoda taps comedian Lee Su-ji as brand ambassador for motel campaign
The story: Agoda named comedian Lee Su-ji as its Korea brand ambassador and unveiled a new motel ad campaign. The focus: highlighting Agoda's diverse motel inventory and competitive pricing as domestic motel bookings surge.
4️⃣ K-Glasses 👉[full story]
TL;DR: Tourists skip instant ramen but always buy Korean eyeglasses
The story: Demand for "eyewear shop tour packages" is exploding among foreign visitors. Creatrip reports that eyewear product sales jumped roughly 1,608% from June–October versus the prior five months.
5️⃣ Gemini 3 Pro 👉[full story]
TL;DR: ChatGPT vs. Gemini heats up
The story: Google's latest AI model, Gemini 3 Pro, beats ChatGPT's GPT-5.1 in 7 out of 11 benchmarks (including image interpretation and coding). OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted in an internal memo that "Google's AI progress could bring economic headwinds" to the company.