Rentlio - a tool that every serious renter should use

Family accommodation in Croatia consists of about 70.000 accommodation units, which is almost 50% of our tourism, and thus everything speaks of its importance and p ...

Author  Goran Rihelj

6. April 2016.

Family accommodation in Croatia makes up about 70.000 accommodation units, which is almost 50% of our tourism, and thus speaks volumes about its importance and potential for our tourism. It is through family accommodation that Croatian tourism has its specificity and added value. However, every business segment has its own problems and challenges, so in family accommodation, if you are not present on the Internet, you are simply not competitive and in the long term you are putting your business at risk.

It is no longer just important to be on various booking sites, but it is imperative to position your accommodation offer as best as possible. In the whole forest of business in family accommodation, from check-out and check-in of guests, management of administration, positioning of ads on booking pages, answering emails - hosts get lost, i.e. it is no longer enough to stand by the road and offer your accommodation, but it becomes a serious daily job. The purpose of every company is to solve the user's problems, and precisely to ease all of the above-mentioned troubles related to the entire business in family accommodation, a little more than a year ago, Rentlio - a system for automating the business of small facilities in tourism - appeared on the domestic market.

Marko Mišulić from Zadrano noticed that there is no advanced technological solution on the market that would unite the entire business in family accommodation into one online system and thus significantly simplify and ease the everyday problems faced by hosts in family accommodation, so he assembled a team and developed Rentlio application. I spoke with a young entrepreneur Marko Mišulić about his system that eliminates stress and administration for all renters.

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Rentlio is a system for automating the operation of small facilities in tourism. The application was released in beta in October 2014, while the commercial phase began in March 2015. Rentlio is an autopilot for renters. We offer everything necessary for the automation of the entire operation of the facility in tourism. From the reservation management system and the facility itself, management of sales channels and synchronization of calendars of various online reservation systems, to segmentation of the guest base for easier planning of marketing activities, issuing and fiscalization of invoices, guest registration in the eVisitor system, etc. We completely eliminate all administration from the everyday life of renters and automate a whole series of operational processes that have been a nightmare for all renters until now" - points out Mišulić and adds that before the development of Rentlio, they tried all other available applications, mostly developed abroad, which were expensive, without a focus on the user, and not adapted to the needs of Croatian renters.

Today, passivity is punished, the position on booking portals and marketing should be dealt with, and that's where the Rentlio tool is crucial, because we automate all the tasks that are repeated every day, Mišulić points out, adding that he paid special attention to statistics and the database: " Through the Rentlio system, the renter knows exactly who his target groups are, how much they pay for accommodation on average, when they come, what their preferences are and all other details about their guests. This is very important for planning marketing activities. The lessor must proactively move towards the market, because in the global race, proactivity is the only thing that distinguishes occupied accommodation facilities from those that are less occupied" - points out Mišulić and adds that they are focused on small, i.e., family accommodation facilities, although they also have users from smaller hotels and hostels.

Rentlio as proof that software for the domestic market can also be developed in Croatia

In the third month, Rentlio celebrated its first anniversary on the market, and as Mišulić points out, they are more than satisfied with the results so far. "All users who activated their subscriptions a year ago continued to use our system this year as well. This shows that people are very satisfied with our system and service. Our average monthly growth in the number of paid users in 2016 was 26%, and 91% of users use Rentlio every day, which shows how our application has become an indispensable tool in the daily operations of facilities. The biggest reward for us is that the growth in the number of users is based primarily through the referral channel of our existing users"

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This year, the goal is to network 2.000 accommodation units, and in the long term they want to become a platform in tourism that will be much more than the application itself. With the organic growth of users, the number of employees also grows, and Mišulić claims that the biggest success is, as they proved that business can be developed in Croatia and in Zadar. "We increased the number of employees from two to five so that we are growing healthy and organically. I am very proud that we are proof that it is also possible to develop software for the domestic market in Croatia. Everyone said that it was impossible, we not only sell it but also export it, since Rentlio is used in 6 other European countries in addition to Croatia" - points out Mišulić

"Renters, i.e. hosts, have accepted the global review game imposed by booking services" Marko Mišulić

Since Rentlio is in contact with renters every day, I was interested in what the situation is like on the ground in family accommodation? Have there been any changes over the past few years and what are the new apartments that are coming to the market? "There is a lot of room for improvement in family accommodation. From our experience, all new apartments that come on the market, ie accommodation units in family accommodation, are of high quality and there are no longer any bad apartments. People have become aware that the market is very dynamic and that you can no longer sell the same service as you did 10 to 15 years ago" - points out Mišulić and adds that renters are slowly realizing the need for professional photography, modern decoration as well as presentation on the Internet and systems such as Rentlio.

It is certainly good, because it is the image of our tourism that we send abroad, and a good voice can be heard far and wide. For years, family accommodation was somehow left to its own devices and developed through inertia, i.e. private investments without a plan or strategy. However, in the last few years, we have witnessed various educations, seminars and forums with the aim of raising the quality of family accommodation. Have landlords finally accepted the fact that they need to join the global game and have an online presence? " Renters, i.e. hosts, simply accepted the global game of reviews imposed by booking services. Today, everything revolves around online marketing, reviews and how to position the ad in the eyes of global reservation services. I think that even the "old" landlords have realized that it is high time for a change. The market is developing day by day, apartments are of higher quality and definitely positive competition is pushing the market forward" - Mišulić concluded

Rentlio is a great entrepreneurial and tourist story that solves all the problems of hosts in family accommodation in a simple and practical way. In my opinion, Rentlio is a tool that every serious host cannot or should use without. After all, see for yourself and try Rentlio free of charge and without obligation for 30 days. As they say from Rentlio, get rid of stress and administration and focus on the guest and the sale.

Author  Goran Rihelj

6. April 2016.