The accommodation industry is one of the first industries to open up to the outside world, and Shanghai is at the forefront of China. As early as January 1979, Deng Xiaoping proposed the establishment of several travel companies. In the same month, Shanghai established a leading group for the construction of tourist hotels using overseas Chinese and foreign capital. In order to better understand the policy evolution trend and characteristics of Shanghai’s accommodation industry, this study will focus on the policy formulation process of Shanghai’s accommodation industry from 1978 to 2021, select the relevant accommodation industry policy texts published on the oḀcial website of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government from 1978 to 2021 as the research object, and analyze the characteristics of policy evolution from the aspects of content and trend by textual analysis as the research method. ἀe main conclusion of the study is that Shanghai’s accommodation industry policy follows the evolution law of “normative documents”, “local government” and “industry + city”. Moreover, Shanghai’s accommodation industry policy is mainly promulgated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China and the State Council. The future development direction of Shanghai’s accommodation policy mainly includes accelerating legislation, clarifying policy paths, expanding policy boundaries, and institutional reform.