On March 8, the “Guiding Opinions on Cancellation of Room Reservations in the Accommodation Industry in Sanya (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guiding Opinions”) will be implemented for a one-year trial.
The Guiding Opinions stipulate that during non-statutory holidays, accommodation operators and online booking platforms should follow the rules that allow full refunds without reason more than 7 days before the check-in of the room. During statutory holidays (New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Ching Ming Festival, Labor Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day), accommodation operators and online booking platforms should follow the rules of full refund without reason more than 15 days before the check-in of the room.

The Guiding Opinions also list the ways to deal with special circumstances: accommodation operators and online booking platforms must make a full refund after consumers provide relevant supporting materials for cancellations due to objective reasons not attributable to consumers, such as natural disasters, public health incidents, flight cancellations, etc. Accommodation operators and online booking platforms should mark “non-refundable limited-time offers” in eye-catching font on the first page of the booking page; Accommodation operators and online booking platforms should confirm to consumers that they are aware of the non-refundable rules. Special rates and promotional rooms are not applicable to the scope of no-reason cancellation.

The Guiding Opinions require accommodation operators to set up quick refund mechanisms such as “credit refund” and “worry-free refund”, and after consumers submit an application for cancellation, they must respond within 2 hours and refund the money within a limited time; Consumers must not be withheld or underrefunded for other reasons; For online booking platforms, the Guiding Opinions require that the cancellation policy be marked in a conspicuous position on the booking page, and the use of vague expressions (such as “partial refund” and “discretionary charge”) is prohibited.
In order to protect the rights and interests of tourists, Sanya has opened the “12345 unsubscription line”, which implements 24-hour reception and 48-hour settlement; The “Sanya Safe Tour” platform will include such unsubscription complaints in the first compensation channel, and then recover from the responsible party. Establish a relevant mediation mechanism, with the Sanya Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports, the Sanya Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, the Sanya Federation of Tourism Industry Associations, and the Sanya Tourism Quality Assurance Association jointly participating in the mediation of disputes.