The sharing economy has been a hot topic in recent years. From shared bicycles to shared cars and then to shared homestays, it has significantly disrupted and inspired the societal ideology and economic development model. While the rise of the sharing economy is an inevitable trend, it also brings several developmental challenges that come with any new phenomenon. For example, how should new business models be legislated and regulated? How can practitioners self-supervise during development? Pan Caifu, Vice President of Xiaozhu Short-Term Rental, a representative brand in the shared homestay industry, shared unique insights on this topic.
He stated that compared to the decades-long development history of traditional hotels, shared accommodation represented by Xiaozhu Short-Term Rental has reached the check-in stage within just a few years, which can be described as highly internet-driven and fast-paced. Regulation is beneficial for a nascent industry—on one hand, it guides the direction of industry development, and on the other hand, it proves that the industry has reached a certain scale. To avoid potential risks and crises in the future, it is necessary to establish reasonable rules to help the industry develop healthily and in an orderly manner.
Pan Caifu believes that, broadly speaking, the shared homestay industry has not formed monopolies or engaged in vicious competition. It can be said that practitioners in China's shared homestay sector adhere to the concept of sharing in a very standardized way. Moreover, from an industry perspective, practitioners strictly uphold compliant operations, follow regulatory laws, and continuously enhance their own brand competitiveness while expanding market coverage. Homestay platforms such as Tujia and Xiaozhu Short-Term Rental have made comprehensive ecosystem layouts ranging from hardware like smart locks to strategic partnerships. The entire shared homestay experience has evolved from simple key boxes to smart code doors, then to Bluetooth check-ins, and now facial recognition check-ins. Their execution capabilities have consistently stood the test—it is this ironclad execution that has driven the rapid development of the whole industry. In terms of attitude, the industry is proactive. In the current state where regulation is still being explored, the industry proactively prepares itself to reassure users and the government. Additionally, in fact, strict regulatory requirements also provide a sense of security for practitioners—there can be no order without rules.
Pan Caifu also mentioned that in actual operations, we take into account experiences from the traditional hotel industry while continuously optimizing services based on the actual needs of homestay customers. For example, smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, and noise alert devices planned for launch to prevent shared homestay guests from disturbing regular residents. However, shared homestays are ultimately different from hotels. In the future IoT era, homes will become increasingly smart, and safety measures will become more refined. Technological upgrades in this area will inevitably surpass those in hotels. But the future hasn’t arrived yet—some things can be anticipated, while others can only be addressed after they happen. We will strive to actively optimize ourselves, aiming for continuous improvement. At the same time, we hope regulations can be more flexible, allowing room for imagination and development. After all, the occurrence of a small number of less-than-ideal issues should not completely negate the efforts of the entire industry, nor should regulations be overly harsh or drastic. Regulation should complement industry development. We firmly believe that the country’s regulatory approaches are diverse and will adjust according to different scenarios and stages of industry development, providing the industry with confidence and motivation.