Planning on booking an Airbnb to bring in this upcoming New Year? Well, think again.
Airbnb has recently announced that they’re implementing strict rules and using technologies aimed at preventing unauthorized parties on New Year’s Eve.
Bookings for one-night stays at entire homes will see a complete ban for any guests without a positive account history on the platform, or that have no previous bookings at all.
The restrictions will apply to the same guests that attempt the book two-and-three-night reservations as well.
Bans will take place across 11 countries, including the US (also Puerto Rico), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the UK, France, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
Why Impose Restrictions?
The leading short-term stay and experience company reasons that the restrictive measures can help protect Hosts against guests’ irresponsibility and neighborhood disruption, which is at a higher risk during the holiday period.
“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, “emphasized Naba Banerjee, Director of Trust Product and Operations at Airbnb. “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.”
Airbnb’s enforcement of strict rules against parties and events manifested in 2019 with an initial global ban on “party houses”, a launch of a 24/7 neighborhood support hotline in the U.S. and Canada, and limitations on allowing guests under 25yrs. old and without a positive review history to book an entire house listing.
Additionally, following the emergence of COVID-19 and public health mandates requiring strict limitations of gatherings, by August 2020, Airbnb officially announced an indefinite global ban on all parties and events at listings on the platform.
The Measures Have Been Successfully Tested
This year’s New Year’s Eve rollout follows a successful trial of Airbnb’s automated defense systems used in eight countries during the same period back in 2021.
According to Airbnb, approximately 340,000 guests from across the world—including more than 120,000 from the U.S., 34,500 in the UK, and 13,000 in Australia—were either completely blocked or redirected from attempting to make a booking on the company’s platform during NYE.
Since implementing these restrictions for the first time during NYE 2020, Airbnb estimates that they’ve seen a near 56 percent global drop in party incidents around the busy holiday.
Today, Airbnb is continuously working to add and improve upon its measures to promote responsible bookings using its service, including the use of reservation screening technology, a free noise sensor offer for Hosts, codification of a global party ban, expansion of its Neighborhood Support Line, and providing valuable tips for Hosts.
