ЕСТИ (ESTI) Guest Reporting in Bulgaria: Automate It with Chekin
Managing vacation rentals or a hotel in Bulgaria means you’re not only delivering a great guest experience—you’re also expected to report guest stays to the authorities. That’s where ЕСТИ (ESTI), the Unified Tourist Information System, comes in.
The challenge for property managers is that compliance work often lands on the operations team: collecting guest details, keeping records consistent across units, and preparing monthly reports without errors. Chekin helps you automate the guest data collection and generate an ESTI-ready export, so reporting becomes a predictable, low-effort routine instead of a monthly headache.
Quick answer for busy property managers
- ЕСТИ is Bulgaria’s official system for reporting tourist accommodation data.
- You typically need structured guest and stay information to submit to the portal.
- Chekin automates data capture via online check-in and helps you export an ESTI-ready CSV you can upload to the authorities.
What is ЕСТИ (ESTI) Unified Tourist Information System?
ЕСТИ (ESTI) stands for Bulgaria’s Unified Tourist Information System, designed to centralize accommodation reporting and tourist stay statistics. In practice, it’s the place where accommodation providers submit required data about guest stays and nights.
For vacation rental managers and hotels, ESTI is not “nice to have”—it’s part of operating compliantly. The operational issue is that the data needed for reporting is often scattered across PMS notes, messaging threads, spreadsheets, and ID photos. That’s exactly the kind of workflow Chekin is built to simplify.
Who needs to use ЕСТИ—and why it matters
If you manage:
- vacation rentals (including guest apartments and rooms),
- serviced apartments,
- guest houses,
- hotels and similar accommodation businesses,
…you need a reliable process to capture guest details and prepare submissions in the format the system expects. A consistent workflow reduces:
- manual admin time,
- upload errors and rejected files,
- compliance risk across a growing portfolio.
ЕСТИ requirements for vacation rentals and hotels
Every operator’s setup differs, but the key principle is the same: ЕСТИ expects standardized data per property/unit and per guest stay, and it’s usually reported on a recurring basis (commonly monthly).
Below are the property-level inputs you should have ready before generating an export—especially important if you manage multiple buildings or dozens of units.
Property-level details you’ll want standardized
To keep your reporting clean and repeatable, define consistent values for each accommodation unit, such as:
- the official accommodation identifier (UIN),
- unit mapping (floor and room/unit identifier),
- an average nightly price value (when required for the file),
- the property name (as it should appear in exports).
Tip for multi-property operators: decide early on one naming convention for rooms/units (e.g., “Apt-2A”, “Studio-01”) and use it everywhere. Consistency prevents mismatches when you export and upload.
The monthly reporting workflow (what most teams actually do)
A practical recurring cycle usually looks like this:
- Collect guest details and booking info during the month
- Validate missing fields (the “chasing guests” phase)
- Generate the monthly file in the required structure
- Upload to the official portal
- Store proof of submission and keep an audit trail
The bottleneck is step 2: teams spend hours following up for missing IDs, typos in names, or incomplete details—especially with late-night arrivals and self check-ins.
How Chekin automates ЕСТИ guest registration and reporting
Chekin helps you move from “manual compilation” to structured, automated data capture, so generating an ЕСТИ export becomes a few clicks—not a spreadsheet project.
1) Collect guest data once with online check-in
Chekin’s online check-in flow is designed to capture the information you need upfront, before arrival:
- Guests complete their details digitally from any device
- You reduce front-desk/manual messaging back-and-forth
- Your team works with cleaner, standardized data (especially across multiple properties)
If you manage vacation rentals with late arrivals, smart access, or remote operations, this is the difference between “scrambling for documents” and a smooth, compliant experience.
2) Generate an ESTI-ready CSV export
Instead of manually formatting files, Chekin lets you generate an export for the selected reporting period (for example, month/year), producing a CSV intended for ESTI upload.
What you gain:
- fewer formatting errors,
- less time spent in spreadsheets,
- easier month-end closing for operations teams.
3) Scale compliance across a portfolio (without scaling admin)
As your property count grows, compliance complexity grows faster than bookings:
- more unit variations,
- more staff members touching the process,
- more opportunities for inconsistent data.
Chekin supports a standardized workflow across properties, which is exactly what portfolio managers need: one process, repeatable every month.
Implementation checklist for property managers
Use this checklist to set up a smoother ЕСТИ workflow (especially useful for teams onboarding new properties):
| Step | What you do | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Standardize unit naming | Set a consistent unit/room naming convention | Cleaner exports, fewer mismatches |
| 2. Add property identifiers | Store official property/UIN details in your setup | Correct mapping to the authority format |
| 3. Enable online check-in | Collect guest info digitally before arrival | Fewer missing fields |
| 4. Train your ops team | Define who monitors missing data and when | No last-minute scramble |
| 5. Export monthly file | Generate the month/year CSV from Chekin | Faster submissions |
| 6. Upload + archive | Submit to the portal and store proof | Better audit trail |
Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)
Even experienced operators hit the same issues:
Inconsistent room/unit identifiers
Problem: “Room 2A” in one system and “Apt 2A” in another.
Fix: pick a single format and stick to it across PMS, access, and reporting exports.
Missing guest details close to arrival
Problem: late arrivals and remote check-ins lead to incomplete profiles.
Fix: automate reminders and make online check-in part of the pre-arrival journey.
Month-end reporting rush
Problem: admin tasks pile up in the final 48 hours.
Fix: review completeness weekly, not monthly—and export on a fixed calendar routine.
FAQ about ЕСТИ and automation
Do I still need to access the official ЕСТИ portal?
In most workflows, yes. Chekin helps you prepare the file (CSV export), and you typically upload it to the official system.
Is this relevant for both hotels and vacation rentals?
Yes—portfolio managers, aparthotels, and hotels all benefit from the same thing: structured guest data and repeatable exports.
What’s the biggest operational win from automating ЕСТИ reporting?
Reducing manual work: fewer messages chasing documents, fewer spreadsheet errors, and faster month-end reporting.
Conclusion
ЕСТИ reporting doesn’t need to be a monthly spreadsheet marathon. For vacation rental and hotel managers, the smartest approach is to build a system where guest data is captured once, structured automatically, and exported in a format that makes submission straightforward.
Chekin helps you do exactly that: automate online check-in and guest data collection, standardize property/unit information, and generate an ESTI-ready CSV so your team stays compliant with less effort—while guests enjoy a smoother arrival experience.
Discover how Chekin can help you automate check-in, stay compliant, protect your property, and boost revenue—saving 87% of your time and earning more from every booking.
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