Rentlio Rediscover: 'We can shorten the check-in time to half a minute'

The second edition of the conference Rentlio Rediscover twice as many hoteliers and technology experts gathered in Zadar this year. The first and only Croatian hotel-tech networking event was visited by more than 250 guests from Croatia and the region.

He opened the conference Marko Mišulić, CEO of Rentlio, which is also the organizer of the event, and the event was supported by partners Sweeply, Hoteza, Seyfor, Marikomerc and Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences. The Zadar company Rentlio is a leader in the digitalization of the Croatian hotel industry, and their system is used by more than 13.000 accommodation units in 40 countries around the world.

Mišulić also mentioned that through Rentlio PMS in 2023 reservation processed worth of almost 218 million euros and logged into eVisitor more than half a million tourists.

"The most technologically advanced companies in the industry are still digital travel agencies that directly take 17 percent of the hotel's revenue through their services. In order to reduce their dependence on intermediary booking platforms, hoteliers must invest more in technology in order to transfer the guest from indirect reservations to booking on the hotel's website. Of course, direct channels are not free, but they are very profitable", he pointed out Misulic and added that the hotel industry must not perceive technology as an enemy.

The benefits of implementing cloud solutions are demonstrated by the example of A'mare Hotel Zadar. They implemented Rentlio Pro software through which they reduced the duration of the administrative part of the check-in process to only half a minute, which resulted in time savings and allowed the reception department to devote more time to the guests.

In addition to all of the above, Mišulić also presented the great news of Rentlio cloud technology - a model of detailed reports and statistics and Rentlio Pay, the company's latest service for automatic payment of hotel reservations.

Then it was the turn of one of the more resounding names of the Rediscover conference - Paul Jeszenszky, a Canadian marketing veteran with more than 20 years of experience who previously worked at global companies such as Airbnb, Google and eBay.

At Airbnb, Jeszenszky managed a marketing budget of 500 million dollars, in contrast to the main competitor Booking.com, which had 3,8 billion dollars at its disposal. Despite the huge difference in funds, investing in what he called "customer love" has resulted in much more satisfied Airbnb users.

"The most powerful tool in attracting new users and retaining existing ones is word of mouth. There are no discounts or reward credits that can match the power of a personal recommendation. But the same does not come without coverage, you have to offer the guest a reason to talk positively about your hotel, an emotion or add value to their stay. The better experience you offer them, the more they will love you" he stated Jeszenszky.

The panel discussion "The Future of Smart Hospitality - AI Leading the Way" followed, in which they participated Darko Bosančić, commercial director of Sciant EAD, Mladen Fernežir, co-founder and Lead Data Scientist at Velebit AI, and Robert Gobo, director of digitization at Valamar Riviera. The panel was moderated by Ivan Brezak Brkan.

The discussion was opened by Fernežir, who pointed out that in recent years the market has grown in interest in artificial intelligence and that today it is much easier to obtain economic value.  

Globo then pointed out that AI is already being used in Croatian tourism and offered a concrete example with the Valamara call center. As he said, after the end of the pandemic, they received 1000 emails with inquiries and reservations. Instead of waiting two weeks to arrange a priority response, they taught artificial intelligence to read the mail, recognize the sender's intent, and then determine which queries are closest to an accommodation reservation. 

At the end, Bosančić pointed out to all those gathered that it is wrong to look at AI as a tool for increasing income or attracting new guests, but rather as a system that will more easily detect problems in business.

"For example, through a review of reviews, artificial intelligence will determine what the guests complain about the most, which will enable the management to detect the problem faster and react to it. That's why every hotel must have a person who will understand how to use the benefits of technology in business", he stated Bosancic.

The panel was followed by two more keynote lectures. He held the first Erlendur Steinn Gudnason, CEO and co-founder of the Icelandic company Sweeply, which offers a solution for simpler management and maintenance of accommodation units.

In his presentation, he showed how their solution enabled the Islands Hotel group to save as many as 6.400 hours of work in four months, by offering guests to choose when they want their room cleaned.

At the end of the conference, she gave a lecture Ana Šuper Matana, a leadership coach who shares her extensive managerial experience at numerous conferences, focusing on the management segment. She spoke about the difference between management and leadership, pointing out that directors manage the company's operations, but leaders lead people and implement the company's vision.

Photo: Rentlio