registration number for apartments from 2027: what you need to know now
From the start of 2027, every room, apartment and holiday home advertised on Booking or Airbnb will need its own registration number. Without it, a listing won't be able to stay online.
Since 20 May 2026, Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 on short-term rentals has applied across the EU. In Croatia, the obligation to have a registration number for rooms, apartments and holiday homes is being introduced by the new Hospitality Act (Zakon o ugostiteljskoj djelatnosti). Tourist boards say it should apply from the start of 2027, and the media most often mention 1 January. The exact date depends on the final text of the law.
That leaves three months, which is roughly how long the winter break lasts, when most hosts don't think about paperwork. So it's good to know in time what this is about.
what actually changes
Every accommodation unit will get its own registration number. It's not the host who gets it, but the unit. If you have three apartments, you'll have three numbers.
That number will have to appear on every listing on Booking, Airbnb and other platforms. Platforms must verify it, and they remove listings without a valid number. They will also regularly, mostly monthly, submit data on overnight stays to the competent authorities.
In other words, from 2027 a listing without a number simply won't be able to be online.
how you will get the number
The numbers will be issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport through the eTurizam system. The Ministry and tourist boards say the process will be free, digital and simple.
We don't yet know the specific steps, because they depend on the new Hospitality Act. The Government sent the draft law to Parliament on 26 June 2026, and Parliament debated it in the first reading in early July. At the time of writing (October 2026) we haven't found confirmation that the law has finally been passed and published in the Official Gazette (Narodne novine), so the exact start date of the obligation isn't officially confirmed either. As soon as it is, we'll update this article.
what else the new law brings
According to the draft the Government sent to Parliament:
- Supervision widens. Besides the State Inspectorate, checks will also be carried out by the Customs Administration, municipal wardens and nature wardens.
- Recategorisation every 10 years for private hosts.
- Fines for platforms of 13,000 to 130,000 euros or 1–6% of revenue if they don't verify numbers or don't submit data. That is exactly why platforms won't take risks and will take down listings without a number without much questioning.
- Legal entities and sole traders will no longer receive new decisions for apartments and rooms in residential premises.
what to do right now
- Check the decision for each unit. Capacity, category and address should match what your listings say. If they differ, that's the first thing you'll have to align.
- List everywhere you advertise. Booking, Airbnb, smaller platforms, agencies. The number will have to be entered everywhere.
- Don't wait for the last week. When the system opens, tens of thousands of people will be doing the same job at the same time.
- Follow your tourist board. They will be the first to publish instructions when the process starts.
If you have a legal decision and tidy data, the registration number should be a formality. The problem will be for those who advertise today without a decision or with data that doesn't match the actual situation.