Airbnb Bans Parties
The short-term rental company has released a statement claiming they want to “stop unauthorized parties” and protect against neighborhood disruption,” according to a report on Yahoo News. Renters who do not have positive reviews or a good history on Airbnb will be blocked from making one-night bookings on New Year’s Eve. They will also block renters from making two to three-night reservations if they live locally.
“Stays take place across the world each night on Airbnb, with the overwhelming majority of guests and hosts being respectful of neighbors and delivering benefits to their local community,” says Naba Banerjee, Airbnb’s director of trust product and operations. “These proactive defenses will help to promote responsible travel and help to prevent rare instances of unwelcome behavior, and enable hosts, guests, and communities to enjoy their end-of-year celebrations with added reassurance.”
Strict Rules Apply To All
The stricter rules will be in place across 11 countries. The countries include Canada, the United States, Portugal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Brazil, France, Spain, Ireland, and Australia.
“We estimate that the measures have contributed to a year-over-year global drop in rates of party incidents over New Year’s Eve of roughly 56 percent since the defenses were first piloted in 2020,” Airbnb said in the statement.
In the report by Yahoo News, Airbnb claims the platform blocked close to 340,000 users during New Year’s Eve in 2020. About 120,000 were in the U.S., 34,500 were in the United Kingdom, and another 13,000 were Australian users.
No More "Party-Houses"
Airbnb banned “party houses” on the platform back in 2019 after a shooting that left five people dead at a 100-person gathering at a mansion in Orinda. Then later in the year, they stopped allowing “open-invite” events but allowed invitation parties at the single dwelling.
Since 2020, Airbnb has banned all parties due to COVID-19 regulations.