On 8 September 2026, ZICER presented StayPicker and spoke with Jan Matović about the development of a new Croatian platform for finding and booking private accommodation. For us, the wider context is especially important: StayPicker was not created as an isolated project, but is being developed on the experience and technological foundations of the MyRent ecosystem. The interview shows how Croatian tourism technology can grow from solving real, everyday problems for hosts, agencies and professional accommodation managers.
From MyRent to StayPicker
For years, MyRent has been developing a PMS, Channel Manager and connected tools for professional accommodation management. In such a system, a reservation is not just an entry in a calendar. It is connected with availability, price, the guest, the sales channel and the operational work before, during and after the stay.
Working on these processes gives a very practical view of what happens behind a single online reservation. If a guest needs to see real availability and a real price, while the owner needs up-to-date data in the system used to manage properties every day, a reliable technology infrastructure must exist behind the user interface.
This is where the connection between MyRent and StayPicker matters most. StayPicker is being developed from experience gained in a system that already works with reservations, prices, availability, sales channels and day-to-day accommodation operations. ZICER highlights this technological background as one of the project’s important advantages.
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Croatia can create technology for tourism
Croatia is usually seen first as a tourism destination. That is understandable, but experience from a large and demanding tourism market creates another opportunity: products developed in Croatia can solve tourism problems and, over time, create value beyond the domestic market.
This kind of technology is not created simply from an idea for another app. It grows through years of solving synchronization, pricing, availability, reservations, communication and operational challenges. PMS systems, Channel Manager technology, booking platforms, automation and AI tools are useful only when they understand the real business process behind them.
That is the most interesting message in the ZICER story for us. Croatian tourism does not have to be only a user of technology developed elsewhere. Knowledge created here can become a foundation for our own technology products. MyRent and StayPicker are different products, but they show how experience in one part of tourism can become a new technology service.
Why MyRent is an important part of the story
The value of MyRent is not only in the number of functions visible in the application, but also in the experience accumulated through real accommodation-management processes. The central calendar, reservation and guest management, price control, sales-channel connections and operational automation are connected parts of the same business process.
When you develop technology that must understand this entire chain, you create a base on which other products can be built. StayPicker is a good example: to the guest it looks like a platform for finding and booking accommodation, but behind that experience there must be an understanding of availability, prices, the reservation process and communication with the accommodation provider.
StayPicker as the next step
MyRent is primarily a tool for professionals who manage accommodation sales and operations. StayPicker looks toward the guest: finding accommodation, communicating with the owner and completing the booking process. These two perspectives naturally meet around the same data — accommodation, price, availability and reservation.
We are developing StayPicker as an additional channel that connects Croatian accommodation supply with guests, building on the technology experience developed through MyRent.
Read the Croatian article about the StayPicker launch
ZICER as an environment for developing technology projects
In the ZICER interview, Jan Matović also speaks about the importance of the environment in which StayPicker is being developed. ZICER is not only a place where the team works, but an environment with expert advisers, workshops, lectures and daily contact with other technology companies and teams. That environment is especially valuable when a product moves from a technology idea toward a serious market project.
For MyRent, it is another reminder that technology is rarely created in isolation. Good products come from a combination of industry experience, development, user feedback and an environment in which ideas are continuously tested and challenged.
Read the full interview on ZICER
The ZICER interview tells the story of StayPicker in more detail: how the project started, its role alongside global OTA channels, its business model, its technology connection with MyRent and its ambitions for further development. If you are interested in how the team thinks about a Croatian travel-tech product and why we believe Croatia can create technology for tourism, we recommend reading the full conversation.
