China's vacation rental and homestay market, which clocked sales of 19.1 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in 2018, is expected to surge this year, thanks to the wanderlust of fast-growing middle-and high-income groups, supportive policies, and increasing popularity of homestays.
According to a report from the State Information Center, the sector's revenue is expected to reach 50 billion yuan by 2020.
The SIC forecast that by 2020, the number of short-term tenants is likely to exceed 100 million and the number of short-term lodging facilities will exceed 6 million.
Competition in the vacation rental sector is also set to intensify as both domestic and foreign companies step up efforts to gain traction among Chinese millennial tourists. On offer are high-quality, personalized services, said industry insiders.
The rise of vacation rentals can be attributed to Chinese consumers' pursuit of high-quality travel experiences.
About 195 million people traveled during the four-day Labor Day holiday in the first week of May, up almost 14 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Their travels generated 117.67 billion yuan in revenue over the four days, representing significant growth of more than 16 percent year-on-year.
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