At the end of 2001, the ROC Tourism Bureau issued its "Regulations Governing Guesthouses." The regulations state that guesthouses are sideline businesses run by people whose main occupation is an agricultural, forestry, fisheries or livestock activity, who make available rooms in their own country homes to travelers, and who are well integrated in the local cultural and natural environment.
在民國 90 年底，交通部觀光局所公佈實施的「民宿管理辦法」中，將民宿定義為：「利用自用住宅空閒房間，結合當地人文、自然景觀、生態、環境資源及農林漁牧生產活動，以家庭副業方式經營，提供旅客鄉野生活之住宿處所。」