The Story of GoDirect

GoDirect is an online room booking system and accommodation management software that helps private accommodation providers to increase their direct bookings and manage their day-to-day administration.

My name is Krisztián Mátyás, I am the co-founder of the Hungarian Facebook community called „Szállásadók szakmai közössége” (= Professional Community of Hosts) and the GoDirect software company.

GoDirect was inspired by the community and this community continuously helps the development of our software. Through feedback and interviews, we can make the everyday life of hosts easier with a solution that is tailored to private accommodation providers.

Let’s see how it started!

I became a host at the end of 2020 with an unused family property. I had many difficulties because of COVID-19, as the restrictions were tightened at that time. It meant that guests could book our just-opened apartment with strict rules.

It was really hard to operate with untraceable regulations and half-informations. But I was not alone. I decided to create a community on Facebook. This was the community I mentioned before. The goal was to help each other navigate between new rules, and find answers to operating questions.

I chose the ’community’ name because it was not a repository of knowledge. I was uninformed about many topics at that time and my goal was to answer the questions together.

The number of members increased quickly. It was really good to see how helpful these people are.

During the COVID break, I got to know the administrative processes and realized they are quite difficult. I had to use 4-5 software at the same time to complete every duty. Another factor in the story is that by then we have been running our IT business for 1.5 years with co-founders, Attila and Bence. GoDirect's current design and development background system is also thanks to them. That time we were working on the website of an accommodation and we had to integrate a room reservation system, with solutions and pricing tailored to hotels. It was quite expensive with a lot of unnecessary functions but with this our client could receive guests automatically without commission. It was still better than pay commission to intermediaries.

That's when it became clear that we have to help the owners of guesthouses and apartments with a solution specially tailored for small accommodation providers. With a solution that makes the operation of your accommodation simpler and more transparent.

And the community…

GoDirect is very grateful to the community. We involved the hosts from the very beginning of the planning and tried to create a software which offers the necessary functions and it’s easy to use. Since then, of course, we have done a lot of research on the topic, also looking at foreign examples. We try to share our experiences and processes in the community's Knowledge Base as well.

This is how the GoDirect story began, and how it continues should be an exciting surprise ;)

Krisztián Mátyás

founder

GoDirect