Airbnb makes ban on parties permanent

AIRBNB Inc said on Tuesday that it will make permanent its ban on parties in homes listed on its platform, after seeing a sharp drop in reports of unauthorised gatherings since the prohibition was put in place in August 2020.

The company announced seeing a 44% year-after-year drop in the rate of party reports since implementing the policy.

This comes after the San Francisco-based company introduced and extended the party ban to halt the spread of Covid-19 infections. Now the company wants to make the ban permanent as the northern summer travel season begins.

“This is an issue where I don’t know if I’d say there’s a finish line,” said Ben Breit, a spokesperson for the company, adding that Airbnb will keep working to address the issue.

The company said it will also remove its 16-person limit, allowing larger homes listed on the platform to be booked to full occupancy.

In 2019, Airbnb began imposing much stricter limits, starting with a global ban on so-called “party houses” or listings that create persistent neighbourhood nuisance.

Airbnb has also updated its policies considering the pandemic, removing both the “event friendly” search filter and “parties and events allowed” house rules.

More than 6 600 guests and some hosts were suspended in 2021 for attempting to violate the party ban, the company said. |