I had a miserable fear until this interview! And it wasn’t because it was Halloween time, but because I had the pleasure of talking to Manuel Giner, who has been in this short-term rental property industry for a good 17 years as CEO of Avantio – one of the most complete PMS on the market and also our latest integration.
Hope you like it.
Noelia: I always tell the story of how my grandma was renting her apartment in Benidorm in the 70’s, but I think it’s pretty cool that the sector was already ready and able to use purpose built software, before Airbnb came along and changed the sector. What did Avantio do when it started in 2001?
Manuel: We started in 2001 as a software for short-term rental operators. The biggest difficulty was convincing the companies to invest in technology, since most of them did things manually and offline.
Very few of them had websites, and those that did have one just had a static page. For that reason, our second product was a reservation system for them to put online. The channel manager started significantly later, and became a top seller, since it was one of the first to be dedicated just to short term rentals in the industry.
Noelia: What changes did Airbnb and the growth of the sector bring?
Manuel: Airbnb let customers who before would only have ever booked hotels choose a short term rental instead. It popularised a new way of going on holiday. By increasing its customer base, they increased our customers’ sales too and brought lots of new companies to the sector, who also wanted to use our services.
Noelia: Avantio differentiates itself from its competitors with its Business Intelligence tools. What are the mostly used tools by your customers?
Manuel: We’re different because we’re an all-in-one solution that covers all the major processes of the business on the same platform, so our customers don’t need to hire other companies or pay for extra services. Avantio provides a powerful software, a fully complete channel manager and an integrated reservation system. As well as its flexibility, it’s ideal for companies that manage more than 50 properties and plan to grow in the future. I’d also point out our customer service, rated as the best in the sector. All of our customers can get in touch with us by phone (or email and chat too, of course).
Noelia: In 2018, you opened your first office in the United States, do you notice a big difference in terms of HR? What about with the property managers?
Manuel: From our experience in the US, we find it harder to retain good talent, as there is a culture of changing jobs frequently. In terms of the property managers, at the end of the day, they all want the same thing, a great software that makes their work easier.
Noelia: I know first hand that cleaning is one of the major headaches of the sector. Do you think that this part will become professional as well?
Manuel: I think so, and just as is happening in the hotel industry, the customer will become more and more demanding.
Noelia: Short term rental management companies are consolidating. Do you think the software companies will do the same thing?
Manuel: This already happens with software companies, it’s yet to be seen if this is a good thing for property managers.
Thank you Manuel, see you at “The Avantio Partnership events”
How to integrate Avantio with Doinn?
Login to Doinn (first time)
After registering with Doinn, click on the option “Integrate PMS”:
In the upper right corner, choose the Integrations option.
Avantio Integration
1. Choose the option “activate” Avantio:
2. Request the credentials from your Avantio account manager to enable the integration.
Avantio will send you a username and password that will allow Doinn to automatically receive all your apartments and reservations when you click “confirm”.
3. Set up integration between Doinn and Avantio
Automate the services that you want to order with each booking and let us know your property’s check-in and check-out times:
4. The integration is ready!
Your properties and reservations will be synced automatically. Starting today, you will have the properties ready for your guests with a simple click! If you would like the automation to be completed without having to be manually verified, please email integrations@doinn.co.