Digital registration system for landlords of holiday accommodations
Background
Founder Daniel Haas encountered the bureaucratic processes of the tourism industry while renting out a vacation apartment. Guest registration on paper forms, compiling overnight stay statistics, and calculating tourist tax – he wanted to simplify all these paper-heavy and time-consuming processes with a digital solution. At the touch of a button, overnight stay statistics for each rental property should be generated, and the tourist tax calculated automatically.
No more paper clutter; a simple, digital solution for a large number of rental properties was to be created.
After discussions with countless landlords and property managers, a cloud-based solution was developed that can be used as a digital guest register. Whether for hotels, vacation apartments, or campsites.
Objectives
The primary goal was to bring the guest registration form into the digital age.
The idea was to develop an online form, essentially a digital guest registration form, that guests could fill out on their smartphones upon arrival or even beforehand and sign electronically, similar to receiving a package.
All further processes, such as overnight stay statistics or calculating the local tax, can then be done at the touch of a button, since the data is stored digitally in a standardized format.
For agencies, so-called property managers, who handle the management of rental properties, it should also be possible to manage hundreds of properties. Based on this requirement, we developed ibindo to be scalable for a large number of rental properties. Each property should have its own digital "guest sheet link," which can then be sent to the guests of that property.
Milestones
Would landlords use such a solution?
After a brief survey in a landlord group on Facebook, the answer was clear. A digital guest register would save many landlords time and paper. The community showed great support and interest in such a solution.
A scalable solution would be a great relief, especially for property managers who handle the management of vacation rentals, allowing them to take over guest registration for their clients.
The legal situation and the registration process in Austria
Once we knew what the solution needed to look like and how it needed to work, we were still unclear about the registration process and the legal situation in Austria. Are guests allowed to digitally sign a "digital registration form" on their own smartphones? Who else is involved in the registration process, and how could we simplify it for everyone involved? These were questions that naturally occupied our minds.
Thanks to the fantastic support of the Federal Ministry for Tourism, representatives from Statistics Austria, the Austrian National Tourist Office, and various tourism associations, we were finally able to acquire the necessary expertise and create a groundbreaking innovation.
The reporting process is now fully digital – from the landlord to the municipality to Statistics Austria.
Municipalities are also heavily involved in the reporting process. Overnight stay statistics must be compiled and ultimately reported monthly to Statistics Austria's statistics portal. Our goal was to digitize the reporting process for everyone involved. Therefore, we also developed a solution for municipalities – the ibindo Municipal Cloud.
Ultimately, businesses can digitally welcome their guests, compile monthly overnight stay statistics, and submit them to their municipality at the touch of a button. The municipality, as the registration authority, has immediate access to the registration data and can also generate the "municipal statistics" at the touch of a button and upload them in the correct format to Statistics Austria's portal.
This saves everyone involved a great deal of time and simplifies the paper-based processes. Ultimately, businesses can digitally receive their guests, compile monthly overnight stay statistics, and submit them to their municipality at the touch of a button.
ibindo wins RizUP Founder Award in the "Ingenious Digital" category
In 2021, we took third place in the "Ingenious Digital" category of the RizUP Genius Award with our presentation of our digital guest directory and registration system.
You can watch our pitch and the award ceremony here: https://ibindo.at/youtube-video-pitch/https://ibindo.at/youtube-video-pitch/
Founding of ibindo GmbH
To attract investors and business angels in the future, we founded ibindo GmbH in June 2021.
Results
Through intensive research and technical considerations, we developed the first digital guest directory for Austrian landlords. You can register yourself and your accommodation in just 5 minutes and get started digitally right away. We are currently in a pilot phase with the municipality of Wolkersdorf for the Municipal Cloud, where all businesses register digitally via the ibindo platform. This has led to further features and improvements. Municipalities will be able to digitize their registration processes this year and save themselves a significant amount of time and bureaucracy. You can find more information on our social media channels and at www.ibindo.at