Tujia is helping Chinese second home investors rent out their properties night-by-night, reports Bloomberg.
The short-stay model run by Beijing-based Tujia, which started two years ago and now lists more than 80,000 places for rent in China and abroad, is taking advantage of idle properties held by Chinese homeowners who have bought homes for capital appreciation.
"What's great about this model is it benefits a lot of people," Justin Luo, 46, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tujia, told Bloomberg.
He cited the startup's role in joining China to "the global sharing economy," and calling real estate, "the most lucrative slice, to put it bluntly."
Tujia collects the money and pays all hotel levies as well as taxes on the rental income on behalf of property owners.
Airbnb drove the so-called sharing economy, where people offer services - including beds for the night - directly to one another online.
Tujia's listings on more than 3,000 properties it manages were occupied for more than 70% of the year in 2013, according to Tujia's spokesman.
Registered members exceed 400,000, the company said.
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