Naver Cloud teams up with Korean tourism body

South Korean hyperscaler Naver Cloud has teamed up with the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) to improve the experience of visitors as the country gears up for tourism recovery.

The KTO currently operates the Visit Korea website with multi-language support on Naver Cloud and plans to leverage the cloud supplier’s artificial intelligence (AI) and application programming interfaces (APIs) to build new capabilities.

For example, an interactive map expected to be launched in the first half of this year will let tourists search for destination information and plot routes through Naver Map.

Also, Naver Cloud’s Clova Studio no-code AI tool and its HyperClova language model, which has been touted to have human-like linguistic capabilities, could provide personalised multilingual destination information and travel itineraries through real-time chat.

KTO and Naver Cloud said they would also work together to strengthen smart tourism infrastructure and expand their cooperation in other areas.

Kim Tae-chang, executive director of Naver Cloud, said: “We will work with the Korea Tourism Organisation to provide helpful services to both tourism industry workers and domestic and foreign tourists through the integration of Naver’s various services and AI technology into the tourism field.”

Yoo Jin-ho, head of the KTO’s travel package department, added that through the partnership with Naver Cloud, “we will be able to show the face of Korea, an IT powerhouse, to tourists who visit Korea again after the pandemic by utilising the information and skills of the two companies”.

“We will expand collaboration with the industry, local governments and various sectors, and strengthen our role as a true public platform by opening up our content and data,” he added.

Outside South Korea, Naver Cloud has been expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia. In October 2022, it teamed up with Intel to bring its cloud services to the region, as well as tap the chipmaker’s network of managed service providers, independent software vendors and systems integrators to develop joint offerings.