Airbnb on NYE? The company says no (to a party, at least).
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Airbnb is leaning on its anti-party technology — including preventing or restricting people from making short bookings in the same town as they live — in 11 countries, the company announced Thursday.
“We are committed to reducing instances of unauthorized parties and helping Hosts protect against neighborhood disruption, and certain times of year, like New Year’s Eve, can attract a higher risk of unauthorized or disruptive parties,” the company wrote.
Airbnb first tested its anti-party technology in Australia in October 2021, using regressive analysis to identify “hundreds” of factors that could indicate a party might happen, CEO Brian Chesky said at a press event in November.
“If somebody’s under, say, 25, they don’t have a lot of history in Airbnb, they want to book a one-night reservation in the same city last minute, and they book a really big house — that looks really suspicious,” Chesky said at the event.
Airbnb said in August it would introduce the party prevention technology in the U.S. and Canada, and at the November event said it would be implementing its reservation screening, anti-party tech around the world by Spring 2023. Parties have caused hosts headaches and even lawsuits.
But now, similar to the extra measures the company began for NYE 2020 — smack in the middle of the pre-vaccine pandemic in the U.S. — Airbnb is banning bookings in 11 countries, including France, the U.S., and Portugal, that are for only one night for an entire home, if the person does not have a “positive account history.” (Airbnb hosts can leave reviews for guests that are visible to other hosts.)
“We’re 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 company wrote. The idea is that someone is more likely to throw a party in a place they actually live.
Airbnb has banned parties globally. It says it estimates its NYE anti-party pilot technology reduced party activity by about 56% from 2020 to 2021.
And, last year, the company added, it prevented or “redirected” 340,000 people around the world from booking an Airbnb on NYE.
“The overwhelming majority of guests and Hosts [are] respectful of neighbors and [deliver] benefits to their local community,” said Naba Banerjee, director of trust product and operations at Airbnb, in the release.
“These proactive defenses will help to promote responsible travel,” she added.
Gabrielle Bienasz
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