Airbnb is cracking down on unauthorized parties for the New Year’s holiday. The company is introducing restrictions on certain types of bookings over New Year’s Eve. These restrictions will see a ban on one-night bookings of entire home listings for guests without a positive account history – or no previous bookings at all – on the platform.
The company is also introducing tighter restrictions for those same guests who try to book two- and three-night reservations, with an emphasis on attempts to book locally.
The restrictions will be in effect over the New Year’s Eve weekend in 11 countries, including the US (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, the UK, and – new for 2022 – Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Naba Banerjee, Director of Trust Product and Operations at Airbnb, said, “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. 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.”
This wider roll out follows the successful trial of these automated defenses in eight countries over NYE last year as part of efforts to help enforce our global ban on parties, which we codified earlier this summer. Airbnb estimates that the measures have contributed to a year-over-year global drop in rates of party incidents over NYE of roughly 56 percent, since the defenses were first piloted in 2020. Last year, approximately 340,000 guests globally were blocked or redirected from attempting to book on Airbnb over NYE, including more than 120,000 guests in the US, over 34,500 guests in the UK, and almost 13,000 guests in Australia.
Since piloting these restrictions for the first time for NYE 2020, Airbnb says it has become a cornerstone of its commitment to tackle disruptive parties and neighborhood nuisance, and have been well-received by Hosts.
These measures include:
- The launch of reservation screening technology, which blocks certain bookings that show an increased risk for disruptive parties and property damage
- A free noise sensor offer for Hosts in partnership with property tech company Minut
- The codification of our global party ban
- The expansions of our Neighborhood Support Line for local communities, and our 24-hour safety line for Hosts and guests to directly reach our Safety team for support
- Tips for Hosts on preventing parties in their listing.
