On November 6, 2026, Romania announced the launch of Dublat.com, a new travel booking platform that offers travelers free hotel stays during the off-season, provided they book a trip in December. The project was developed by the Romanian startup Novi Labs, which aims to increase occupancy rates at hotels, guesthouses, and vacation cottages during periods of low demand.
As reported by the Romanian business publication Economedia on November 5, the new platform uses a model whereby tourists pay standard rates for accommodations during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and, in return, receive additional free nights at the same property during the following months.
Specifically, for every two paid nights in December 2026, a tourist can receive one free night between January and May 2027.
Thus, booking four nights for Christmas or New Year’s could include two additional free nights for a return stay in the spring.
An important condition of the new program is that free nights can only be used at the same hotel, resort, or other tourist facility where the original reservation was made.
The dates of the return stay are determined at the time of the initial reservation. Hotel owners independently determine the list of rooms available under the program, as well as the dates covered by the promotion.
In particular, periods of high tourist demand, including the Easter holidays, may be excluded from the offer.
Thus, the program does not automatically provide free nights at any hotel in Romania. Its terms depend on the specific accommodation facility and room availability.
According to Adrian Oros, the founder of Dublat.com, the main idea is to create added value for tourists without having to lower accommodation rates during periods of peak demand.
“We don’t ask owners to lower prices; instead, we offer real added value. For every two paid nights in December, a guest can receive one night’s stay in the spring at the same location,” Oros noted.
Another distinctive feature of Dublat.com is its financial model for partnering with owners of vacation properties. According to the developers, the platform charges a commission of 5% of the booking price.
At the same time, there are no monthly subscription fees, listing fees, or hidden charges.
By comparison: according to the project’s initiators, commissions charged by major international travel booking platforms can range from 15% to 18% of the booking cost.
Thus, Dublat.com aims to offer owners of small hotels, guesthouses, and vacation cottages an alternative sales channel with lower intermediary service costs.
At the same time, free nights can encourage repeat visits by tourists during periods when demand for accommodations traditionally declines.
For the hospitality industry, this creates opportunities to generate additional revenue from food, tourist services, and other amenities, even when the room itself is provided free of charge.
The platform’s launch comes amid a relatively low level of utilization of Romania’s tourism infrastructure.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics of Romania (INS), the average occupancy rate for tourist facilities in 2025 was 29.8%, which is 1.1 percentage points lower than in 2024.
Thus, more than 70% of available capacity remained unused on average throughout the year.
In 2025, Romania’s tourism facilities welcomed approximately 13.9 million guests, a 2.4% decrease compared to the previous year.
The total number of overnight stays was 29.685 million, down 1.7%.
At the same time, the average length of stay for tourists in the country was only 2.1 days.
Domestic tourists make up the majority of guests at Romanian hotels and guesthouses. In 2025, Romanian citizens accounted for 81.4% of all arrivals, while foreign visitors accounted for 18.6%.
The uneven distribution of tourist demand creates additional challenges for the hotel industry, particularly in mountainous and rural tourist regions.
During the Christmas holidays, New Year’s break, and summer vacations, many establishments experience high occupancy rates. At the same time, from January through May, some hotels and guesthouses face a significant drop in the number of visitors.
Meanwhile, owners continue to incur ongoing expenses for building maintenance, staff salaries, utilities, and taxes.
This new booking model is designed specifically to address this problem.
The business model proposed by Novi Labs combines high-season bookings with repeat visits to tourist destinations during periods of lower demand.
For tourists, the advantage is the opportunity to enjoy additional nights of vacation without paying for accommodation.
For hotel owners, this system can ensure more even utilization of their room inventory throughout the year and increase the number of repeat guests.
This model may be particularly relevant for small hotels, family-run guesthouses, vacation cottages, and rural tourism facilities, which are heavily dependent on seasonal demand.
At the same time, the actual effectiveness of the new service will depend on the number of hotels that join the platform, the availability of promotional dates, and tourists’ interest in repeat trips.
Dublat.com is a Romanian digital project in the field of travel reservations, created by the startup Novi Labs. The platform is focused on developing domestic tourism, supporting small accommodations, and increasing the utilization of tourism infrastructure during the off-season.
