Guest registration & compliance glossary
Plain-language definitions of the Czech legal and industry terms accommodation providers run into most.
Channel Manager
A channel manager is software that keeps availability, rates, and reservations in sync across multiple booking platforms — Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, and others — from a single dashboard.
Cizinecká policie (Foreign Police)
The Cizinecká policie (Foreign Police) is the Czech police unit that receives foreign-guest registration reports from accommodation providers through UbyPort and enforces the reporting requirement.
Domovní kniha (House Book)
The House Book (domovní kniha) is the register of accommodated foreign nationals under § 100(f) and § 101 of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.: registration-form data plus the start and end of the stay, kept for 6 years and presented to the police.
e-Turista
e-Turista is a planned Czech nationwide accommodation registry from the Ministry of Regional Development that would unify guest reporting into one system. No law introducing it exists yet: the government bill, proposing effect from 1 January 2028, has only just been through inter-ministerial comments, and an opposition bill is still waiting for its first reading in the Chamber.
Evidenční kniha (Registration Book)
The Registration Book (evidenční kniha) is the register of every guest with a paid stay, Czech guests included, that a host keeps for each establishment as the collector of the accommodation fee (§ 3g of Act No. 565/1990 Coll.). It is the basis for the fee and for exemptions and is kept for 6 years.
GDPR for Accommodation Providers
GDPR applies to accommodation providers because guest registration processes personal data. It requires a lawful basis for processing, appropriate security, and clear data retention limits.
Hlášení cizinců (Reporting of Foreign Guests)
Hlášení cizinců is the legal duty of Czech accommodation providers to report foreign guests to the authorities — today done through UbyPort, within 3 working days of arrival (§ 102 of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.).
iCal Sync
iCal sync is a widely supported calendar-feed format used to share reservation dates between booking channels, PMS platforms, and other tools, without requiring a custom API integration.
Online Check-in
Online check-in lets guests submit their registration details — name, ID, nationality — through a web form before arrival, instead of completing paperwork at the property.
PMS (Property Management System)
A PMS (property management system) is software used to manage reservations, pricing, availability, and operations for a hotel or short-term rental business — examples include Guesty, Cloudbeds, Mews, and Beds24.
Poplatek z pobytu (Accommodation Tax)
Poplatek z pobytu is a local tax charged per guest per overnight stay, collected by accommodation providers and remitted to the municipality where the property is located.
UbyPort
UbyPort is the official online system of the Czech Foreign Police used by accommodation providers to report the foreign guests they accommodate, EU citizens included.