Barani matches "Booking"

The Bar-based internet platform ugosti.me is local, Montenegrin and was founded with the aim of being an alternative to the global giants in the rental of accommodation, supported by the Ministry of Tourism, in order to extend the summer season into the autumn months, and then the whole year. It offers and advocates legal business within the framework of domestic legislation, both for the providers and the guests.

He told "Vijesti" that Vladimir Jovanovic from Bar, one of the founders of the platform, explained that the idea came about as a result of market analysis.

They looked at the challenges faced by accommodation providers in Montenegro, as well as the problems of the entire tourist season, which they say is held hostage by large, foreign platforms and their costs, such as Booking and Airbnb.

They started implementing it at the end of last year, and along the way they received support from the Montenegrin government department responsible for tourism and local tourism organizations from the coast.

"From the initial idea, we had to wait for it to mature, and above all for the banks and the online accommodation rental market in Montenegro to mature. When we assessed that this had happened, we started to develop the project to the fullest," said Jovanović.

The information solution is entirely their internal product that they developed themselves, he emphasized, adding that they are satisfied with the response from publishers so far. The Ministry of Tourism, in accordance with measures to improve tourism, has supported their project as a form of legal, safe and secure tourism.

Jovanović believes that they have recognized that their platform, unlike all others, offers business exclusively through registered publishers. Each accommodation publisher, upon registration, will have to submit a registration in accordance with Article 4 of the Tourism Law, which they will verify.

"What sets us apart from any other platform that has tried to do this is that we operate fully in accordance with Montenegrin legislation. We operate in accordance with the laws on taxes, obligations and tourism," he says.

The entire profit remains in Montenegro, emphasizes Jovanović. The total cost of a reservation is eight percent, for the guest and the publisher together, while platforms like Booking and Airbnb require costs that can exceed 20 percent.

"It is important to emphasize that regardless of whether these platforms charge both the guest and the issuer or only the issuer, these costs raise the price and reduce the competitiveness of Montenegro as a destination," said Jovanović.

They work exclusively with registered accommodation providers and, according to him, they have managed to make the services provided by some foreign platforms significantly more favorable for both parties.

"During the initial, promotional period, our publishers do not pay any fees to our platform. On the other hand, it is many times cheaper for guests than booking through foreign platforms," ​​he emphasizes.

One of the big challenges faced by publishers from Montenegro is that it can happen that a guest simply does not show up or that the publisher advertises something that is not the real situation, says Jovanović, so in such cases, these companies will always side with the guest.

"In practice, this means that the publisher has lost several days in the season that they cannot offer to someone else so quickly. Customer support located abroad does not help in such situations. They are, first and foremost, there to protect the guest," says Jovanović.

In contrast, what they provide as a safe option is that when a guest books an accommodation, they will have to pay the full amount. The publisher will, upon registration, set a cancellation policy that suits them, and these can be complex rules, with multiple different cancellation criteria.

"After that, whoever has agreed to the cancellation policy and made a payment, we will, 24 hours after the guest's registration, transfer those funds to the issuer's current account. Foreign platforms can often transfer money to a foreign currency account, in another currency, for example, dollars. Then there is the conversion to euros, the costs of transferring from foreign currency to a current account. With us, what the issuer advertised, he received in his current account, and he can immediately withdraw his earnings at an ATM," explained the interlocutor of "Vijesti".

They protect guests by offering registered publishers and accommodations, because in the domestic market it often happens that they book accommodation through social networks, which ultimately turns out to be a bad decision. Initially, and in accordance with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, the focus is on the September and October season and then the winter season, all with the aim of promoting sustainable tourism.

They communicate with publishers and it is very important to them to advocate the idea of ​​registration and legal business, thus encouraging them to enter the "legal channels".

"Montenegro has a problem with a large number of unregistered placements. This is not something we are special about, much larger markets, such as Spain and Greece, are also facing this. However, we can solve this by offering publishers a domestic and comparative alternative and advantage over foreign platforms," ​​Jovanović emphasized.

The new Tourism Law, which is in the process of public debate, already brings certain benefits that lead in the "good direction of tourism development," he assessed, and it is up to the private sector to offer solutions and make the best use of legal opportunities.

For now, they are more than satisfied, they say, with the cooperation, support and understanding provided by the competent institutions at the state and local levels, and they hope that this will continue.

What they consider a need, but also a desire, is further cooperation on the complete digitalization of the tourist tax, so that they can pay it through their platform, which would allow the guest to begin their stay without any obligations for them or the issuer.

Jovanović also warns against the use of artificial intelligence when it comes to the operations of large, global platforms, which will be in an even more favorable position to dictate prices and manipulate the market with its help. Therefore, he concludes, the most natural thing is to rely on regional and local solutions.