Those looking to book an Airbnb to ring in 2023 with a party should make other plans.
The housing rental company is again seeking to prevent people to make reservations with the intention of hosting New Year’s Eve parties.
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Airbnb is banning one-night bookings of whole-home listings for users with no positive account history — or prior bookings. These same users will also face tighter restrictions when trying to book two- or three-night reservations, especially when trying to book locally.
Airbnb estimates that these measures have contributed to a 56% drop in New Year’s Eve party incidents since they were tested in 2020. In Philadelphia, more than 3,200 people were deterred from booking entire real estate listings last year.
“These proactive defenses will help promote responsible travel and prevent rare instances of unwanted behavior, and allow hosts, guests and communities to enjoy their holiday celebrations with added confidence,” said Naba Banerjee, Director of Trusted Products and Operations at Airbnb.
The company’s measures are part of its broader strategy, which includes a blanket ban on parties, offering hosts free noise sensorswhich alerts customers when they are getting too loud and extends its neighborhood support linewhich allows neighbors to report disturbances.
Party policies were initially tightened in 2019 following several incidents, and a temporary global ban on parties was enacted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ban has proven so effective — party reports have dropped 44% since August 2020 — that Airbnb has codified it into June.
Airbnb is also testing anti-party technology in the United States and Canada that will identify potential high-risk bookings and block those users from taking advantage of the platform.
Alongside New Year’s Eve, Airbnb has taken similar steps to limit unauthorized parties around holidays like Halloween and July 4.
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