- Riad Corporation operates 'Ria Travel,' a hotel booking platform that uses AI to
negotiate the best possible quotes for travelers.
- The AI agent, Ria, handles complex user demands and can process up to 1,000
quote requests a day, significantly increasing work efficiency.
- The company aims to become the world's largest AI travel agency by expanding
its services to include flights and local transportation.
“We will streamline the travel preparation process even further. Our AI will negotiate on behalf of people to provide the optimal hotel quote through the most efficient process.”
This is the ambition declared by Byong-joo Lee, CEO of Riad Corporation. Established in 2023, Riad Corporation is a travel tech company that operates 'Ria Travel,' a hotel booking platform that calculates the best possible quotes using AI. The company is focused on driving the AI Transformation (AX) of the travel industry, going beyond simple price calculation. Its AI agent handles complex user demands—such as specific room types, views, or pet-friendly options—and presents a negotiated result, replacing the human element in the transaction.

Byong-joo Lee, CEO of Riad Corporation / source=IT dongA
AI-Powered Quotes Offer Customized Service by Meeting Detailed Demands.Riad Corporation’s services are divided into the B2B 'Ria' and the B2C 'Ria Travel.' Spurred by the positive response to its Ria service, the company rebranded and launched Ria Travel for the general public.
“The B2B market significantly impacts the hotel industry's revenue, making it crucial to calculate quotes that are mutually satisfactory for both hotels and travel agencies,” said Lee. “Traditionally, negotiations between hotels and travel agencies were a cumbersome, case-by-case process centered around paperwork. If a customer changed their requirements, the complex documentation had to be redone. For instance, a single travel package for 100 people could have 100 different sets of needs, all of which had to be coordinated by a person.”
“Watching this process,” he continued, “I realized that automating the hotel quotation process could minimize these inconveniences. This led to the development of 'Ria,' an AI agent that receives individual requirements and quote requests from individuals, corporations, or travel agencies and negotiates with hotels on their behalf.”
If a hotel quote drops below the publicly listed online price, it can diminish the hotel's brand value, making direct negotiation essential to secure a lower rate. The AI agent Ria is designed with a negotiation logic to do just that. If the initial price isn't satisfactory, it can even re-negotiate.
“Thanks to this, 72% of the more than 1,000 quotes generated through Ria were below the lowest online price,” Lee emphasized. “Most importantly, the AI agent Ria can process up to 1,000 quote requests a day, a massive increase from the 2-3 cases a person can handle manually, which dramatically boosts work efficiency. The final quote is also conveniently delivered via familiar channels like email or messengers.”
Riad Corporation’s core value is ‘simplifying travel.’ The company was founded on the belief that while travel should be exciting, many people find the complex and tedious planning process a major hurdle.

AI Agent Ria helps you calculate optimal quotations / source= Riad Corporation

You can receive the quotation by e-mail or messenger / source= Riad Corporation
“Our mission is to simplify the excessively burdensome travel preparation process. We are committed to R&D to create a world where travel planning is finished simply by telling an AI your preferences and needs,” Lee stated. “With AI Ria, users can already get quotes from approximately 300,000 hotels worldwide through a simple four-step process.”

Ria helps calculate travel quotations in four steps / source= Riad Corporation
He added, “We are focused on advancing our services to make travel preparation even more convenient and precise. We are identifying and teaching our AI agent what more it needs to learn through various domestic and international partners, and we are working to expand the number of hotels we can provide quotes for. Significant investment and further feature development are necessary to expand our global market share. We are currently working to secure numerous domestic and international travel agencies as clients and are devising strategies for more explosive global growth. We plan to gradually unveil our solutions to these challenges through new services. The upcoming launch of 'Chloe,' a B2B quote processing service specialized for travel agencies, is part of this effort.”

B2B quote processing service specialized for travel agencies, ‘Chloe’ / source=Riad Corporation
Riad Corporation was able to accelerate the development of 'Chloe,' SaaS version of the AI agent Ria, thanks to its selection for the Jungle ASAP program, jointly hosted by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech) and Amazon Web Services (AWS). SaaS refers to application services operated in a cloud environment, meaning all services are delivered online without the need for local software installation, much like web-based email.
“Through the Jungle ASAP program, we are receiving tremendous help from AWS on market, pricing, and technology strategies essential for a SaaS company,” Lee said. “It has been a particularly impressive collaboration for its ability to deepen our understanding of not only the domestic market but also the U.S. market.”
“We Will Become the World’s Largest AI Travel Agency”Riad Corporation’s ultimate goal is to become the world's largest AI Travel Agency.
“Building on Ria, which provides convenient and flexible hotel quotes to B2B clients, we plan to successively launch specialized AI agents for travel, including 'Chloe' for travel agencies and 'David' for hotel operations automation,” Lee explained. “As each AI agent simplifies the cumbersome processes surrounding travel, I am confident that we will ultimately evolve into an all-encompassing AI travel agency that covers not only hotel quotes but also flights and local transportation.”
He concluded, “To achieve this goal, we will challenge the U.S. and global markets with our honed technology while simultaneously advancing our AI agents through collaboration with various domestic partners. We plan to launch hotel and flight services in the near future, and we ask for your interest and support.”
By Dong-jin Kim (kdj@itdonga.com)
* This article was written with support from Seoul National University of Science and Technology.