XIAO DAI, who works for Shenzhen-based telecom giant Huawei Technologies, rented out his apartment in Futian District through short-term lodging apps half a year ago when he was relocated by his employer to another city to work for half a year.

“The rent I’ve earned through short-term leasing for half a year is over 10 percent more than the amount I would have earned by renting out my apartment for a year in the conventional way,” said Xiao Dai.

Xiao Dai is one of an increasing number of homeowners across the city renting out their idle apartments or rooms through short-term lodging apps such as Airbnb, which are prospering.

A woman identified as Xiao-nan earns money by renting out three spare rooms in the apartment she has rented since 2016 in Bao’an District. “Renting out the rooms for short periods helps me cover the rent that I need to pay,” said Xiaonan.

Most of the short-term lodgings are located in populous areas such as the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center and Dongmen or tourist spots like Dameisha and Xiaomeisha.

Data provided by the Xiaozhu app suggested that Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the two cities with the largest numbers of registered members. More than half of the registered members are young people aged between 25 and 35.

An array of apps for short-term lodging, like HomeAway, Tujia, Xiaozhu and Mayi, are taking shares of the demand for short-term rental apartments or rooms.

Short-term lodging is especially popular among businesspeople and travelers in the city.

Xiao Yi, a returned overseas student, rented an apartment in Houhai, Nanshan District, for 358 yuan (US$52) per day with his roommate from the United Kingdom.

“We are here for job interviews with a few Forbes Top 500 companies in Shenzhen,” said Xiao Yi, adding that they rented the apartment for one month for the interviews. “It’s cheaper than staying in business hotels, and we can cook our own food.”

Chen Chi, CEO of Xiaozhu, said that 15 percent of his clients, most of whom are startup owners, choose short-term lodging when on business trips in Shenzhen.

Statistics from iResearch showed that the trade volume of short-term lodging in China reached 8.78 billion yuan in 2016, up 106 percent from the previous year. It is estimated that China’s short-term lodging market will reach 12.52 billion yuan this year. (SD News)