Airbnb will BAN some users from booking properties on New Year’s Eve in 11 countries – and Australia is one of them
- Accommodation marketplace targets groups planning rowdy NYE parties
- Restrictions placed on new, unpopular Airbnb users so they can’t book homes
- The restrictions put in place in 11 countries including Australia, NZ and Britain
Australia, New Zealand and Britain are among 11 countries in which Airbnb is cracking down to prevent rowdy New Year’s Eve parties as part of its ‘anti-party’ stance.
The online property booking platform will ban new users or people without a positive account history from booking an entire home for NYE.
The service will go even further, restricting the same kinds of guests who try to book two and three night stays around NYE.
Even though ‘disruptive’ parties, events and open-invitation gatherings are banned at Airbnb properties listed, the service has had trouble eliminating them altogether.
Australia, New Zealand and Britain are among 11 countries in which Airbnb is cracking down to prevent rowdy New Year’s Eve parties
The online property booking platform will ban new users or people without a positive account history from booking an entire home for NYE as part of its ‘anti-party’ stance
The latest extended ban will help eliminate ‘unwelcome behaviour’ on NYE, said Naba Banerjee, Director of Trust Product and Operations at Airbnb.
‘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,’ an Airbnb statement said.
It means people without glowing track records may find themselves unable to book for one, two or three nights to see in the new year with mates at a rented house in Australia, NZ or Britain.
‘We are committed to reducing instances of unauthorised parties and helping hosts protect against neighborhood disruption, and certain times of year, like New Year’s Eve, can attract a higher risk of unauthorised or disruptive parties.’
The same restrictions will apply in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Spain, France, Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Airbnb is also supplying hosts with ‘a free noise sensor’ from property tech company Minut.
The restrictions were trialled last year and are expanded for NYE 2022.
The company said the measures reduced ‘party incidents’ by 56 per cent last year.
The service also bans ‘party house’ listings globally.
In certain countries and regions, Airbnb has placed restrictions on local bookings of entire homes by guests under the age of 25 who have negative reviews or fewer than three positive reviews.
Even though ‘disruptive’ parties and events and open-invitation gatherings are banned at properties listed on Airbnb, the service has had trouble eliminating them altogether