With the festive season fast approaching, many Australians are preparing for a New Year’s Eve celebration.
This special night is typically all about getting together with loved ones to bring in the new year on a high. But the popular holiday booking platform Airbnb has enforced new rules that will result in a ban on some guests booking a property for just one night on 31 December.
The anti-party restrictions will be in effect over the New Year’s Eve weekend in 11 countries including Australia, the US, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, France and Spain.
Airbnb users without a positive review history will be unable to book an entire house for a single night on New Year’s Eve this year. Nor will people who have not previously used the platform.
It is 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.
Last year, Airbnb said roughly 340,000 guests globally were blocked or redirected from attempting to book on Airbnb over NYE, including more than 120,000 guests in the US, 34,500 in the UK, and almost 13,000 guests in Australia.
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In a statement released last week, Airbnb said that while the overwhelming majority of guests were respectful neighbours and travellers, it was also committed to reducing instances of unauthorised parties – something that is heightened on 31 December.
“To that end, we are introducing restrictions on certain types of bookings over New Year’s Eve,” the statement read.
“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.”
In October 2020, the company launched a crackdown on party houses, removing more than 400 listings across Australia that related to the violation of the company’s policies on parties and events, or for having received a number of complaints.
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Airbnb is also supplying hosts with a free noise sensor from property tech company Minut.
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. The service also bans ‘party house’ listings globally.
What are your thoughts on Airbnb’s new rules? Do you agree with them? Let us know in the comments section below.
