SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 30, 2024--
ONDA, a South Korean AI and big data-driven hospitality technology company, has announced its plan to establish a joint venture with a UAE-based Seed Group. Leveraging Seed Group’s extensive regional networks, ONDA is accelerating its efforts to make a foray into the Middle East. ONDA also plans to complete the SaaS localization testing of its proprietary technology by the first half of 2025. The tech company has entered the local marketplace, picking up speed to bolster its regional presence through a diversified marketing strategy.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241227469954/en/
ONDA is the nation’s leading hospitality technology and data company that facilitates the distribution of approximately 60-70% of products in the domestic online booking market. It has developed strong partnerships with global tech giants, becoming the first Airbnb and Trip.com Excellent Partner in Korea and being recognized as a 2024 Booking.com Advanced Connectivity Partner. Moreover, ONDA is the first Korean company to rank 34th on the Global PMS Vendor list by Skift, a U.S. travel research company. As such, ONDA is making a big stride to be a leading player in the global hotel technology market.
ONDA has actively participated in major industry exhibitions in the Middle East such as Expand North Star and GITEX 2024. At the events, the tech company showcased its advanced solutions to major hotel chains and presented tailored digital transformation strategies for the local market. Notably, it is solidifying its position in the region by introducing its flagship hotel digital transformation technologies, including ONDA HUB, the centerpiece of its online distribution platform business, as well as its CRS (Central Reservation System) and PMS (Property Management System).
Kevin Oh, CEO of ONDA, said, “ONDA has strengthened its local networks by participating in the seminar hosted by Dubai Chambers and created additional business opportunities through strategic partnerships,” adding, “The latest move is the fruitful result of our ceaseless efforts to enter the Middle Eastern market and represents the beginning of a new chapter.” He went on to say, “It is expected to serve as our new growth engine in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region’s promising hospitality market.”
ONDA's business introduction session with UAE investors. (Photo: ONDA)
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday told reporters that U.S. officials have determined that Ukraine did not target a residence belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack last week, disputing Kremlin claims that Trump had initially greeted with deep concern.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week said Ukraine launched a wave of drones at Putin’s state residence in the northwestern Novgorod region that the Russian defense systems were able to defeat. Lavrov also criticized Kyiv for launching the attack at a moment of intensive negotiations to end the war.
The allegation came just a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had traveled to Florida for talks with Trump on the U.S. administration's still-evolving 20-point plan aimed at ending the war. Zelenskyy quickly denied the Kremlin allegation.
Trump said that “something happened nearby” Putin's residence but that Americans officials didn't find the Russian president's residence was targeted.
“I don’t believe that strike happened," Trump told reporters as he traveled back to Washington on Sunday after spending two weeks at his home in Florida. “We don't believe that happened, now that we've been able to check.”
Trump addressed the U.S. determination after European officials argued that the Russian claim was nothing more than an effort by Moscow to undermine the peace effort.
But Trump, at least initially, had appeared to take the Russian allegations at face value. He told reporters last Monday that Putin had also raised the matter during a phone he had with the Russian leader earlier that day. And Trump said he was “very angry” about the accusation.
By Wednesday, Trump appeared to be downplaying the Russian claim. He posted a link to a New York Post editorial on his social media platform that raised doubt about the Russian allegation. The editorial lambasted Putin for choosing "lies, hatred, and death” at a moment that Trump has claimed is “closer than ever before” to moving the two sides to a deal to end the war.
The U.S. president has struggled to fulfill a pledge to quickly end the war in Ukraine and has shown irritation with both Zelenskyy and Putin as he tried to mediate an end to a conflict he boasted on the campaign trail that he could end in one day.
Both Trump and Zelenskyy said last week they made progress in their talks at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
But Putin has shown little interest in ending the war until all of Russia's objectives are met, including winning control of all Ukrainian territory in the key industrial Donbas region and imposing severe restrictions on the size of Ukraine's post-war military and the type of weaponry it can possess.
Madhani reported from Washington.
President Donald Trump departs on Air Force One from Palm Beach International Airport, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
