December 27th 2024.
Attention all Airbnb enthusiasts! Be prepared for a small change that could affect your New Year's Eve plans. Unfortunately, if you were hoping to snag a last-minute booking for a cozy Airbnb to ring in the new year, you may need to rethink your plans. The rental company has recently implemented new anti-party technology, aimed at preventing "disruptive" and "unauthorized" parties from taking place on their properties to celebrate the arrival of 2025.
This new technology utilizes artificial intelligence to identify any "higher-risk" bookings of entire home listings. It takes into account various factors such as the length of stay, type of listing, date of reservation, and distance from the guest's current location. Similar measures were introduced late last year, resulting in 74,000 individuals being deterred from booking an Airbnb rental on New Year's Eve. In the UK alone, 7,800 guests were either blocked or redirected from attempting to make a reservation.
So, if you had plans to throw a New Year's Eve bash at an Airbnb, it's highly likely that those plans will be foiled. The company has put in place two major restrictions to prevent parties from happening. Firstly, they are blocking one to three-night reservations that are deemed high-risk by their AI technology. Secondly, they are making guests agree to a mandatory anti-party attestation. This means that guests must acknowledge and understand that disruptive parties are strictly prohibited and that they could face suspension or removal from the Airbnb platform if they violate this policy.
These restrictions have been in place since 2020 in several countries, including the UK, France, Spain, North America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. While there hasn't been any widespread uproar this year, these measures have caused frustration in previous years. In 2023, comments left under a video announcing the changes included statements like "Lol why can't we just party though, this world is so boring," and "Literally tried to book something for my Christmas shifts because of no transport and it flagged me." Others also shared their support for the restrictions, with some saying "Imagine being a neighbor, having small kids, having to go to work, and behind the wall there are parties," and "I feel like it should be at the discretion of the host."
Apart from these new measures, Airbnb has also put in place other ways to prevent parties from happening. This includes providing hosts with free noise sensors and creating a neighborhood support line for communities to report any parties in progress at an Airbnb property. There is also a 24-hour safety line for both hosts and guests to report any issues.
Amanda Cupples, the General Manager for the UK and Northern Europe at Airbnb, explained the reasoning behind these measures, saying "While issues are rare, we want to do our part to help reduce the risk of unauthorized and disruptive parties. Airbnb is committed to supporting hosts and the communities they live in, and we hope these defenses allow guests, hosts, and neighbors to celebrate the holiday with added reassurance."
Do you have a story to share about your experience with Airbnb's anti-party measures? We would love to hear from you! Get in touch by emailing us at [email].
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