Airbnb tightens crackdown on NYE parties
Worldwide: Airbnb is building on its previously-announced anti-party initiative by expanding the policy to include three-night reservations for this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Following its pilot programme last year, which included the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Spain and the UK, Airbnb has announced that it will crack down on New Year’s Eve parties in those countries, as well as in Puerto Rico, Brazil and New Zealand, by applying additional safety restrictions.
Guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb are being prohibited from making one-night reservations in entire home listings, while for two-night reservations, the home-sharing platform will deploy more stringent restrictions on reservations that may pose a “heightened risk” for unauthorised or disruptive parties. Airbnb said it would leverage and amplify its technology that restricts certain local and last-minute bookings by guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb.
Meanwhile, those guests who have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will not be subject to the new restrictions.
In a statement, Airbnb said: “We greatly value our partnership with our hosts and their feedback to help us elevate our defences against unauthorised and disruptive parties. We believe this will bolster our efforts to support the communities in which we operate over New Year’s Eve weekend.”
The tightened restrictions come amid a surge in positive Covid-19 cases and the outbreak of the Omicron variant, and the company said that “some short-term rentals may offer a safer travel experience relative to hotels, without the risk of common spaces like lobbies or dining halls”.
According to Airbnb, approximately 243,000 guests around the world were blocked from booking reservations via the platform ahead of the New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2020.
