Airbnb makes global party ban permanent, saying it works
Posted June 28, 2022 7:54 am.
Last Updated June 28, 2022 11:55 am.
Airbnb is making permanent its ban on parties at homes listed on the site.
“Now is the time,” says company spokesperson Matt McNama. “We really want to ensure the community is safe.”
The company first introduced a ban on parties in August 2020. McNama said reports of parties at Canadian listings have dropped 47 per cent compared to a year ago.
More than 6,600 guests were suspended last year for related violations, Airbnb said.
Airbnb began to crack down on parties in 2019 after a fatal shooting at a party in a house in California. At that time, the company prohibited advertising parties at Airbnb locations on social media.In Canada, there have been incidents of stabbings, shootings and disruptive parties taking place at AirBnb properties.
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The number of parties at Airbnb locations increased during the pandemic, Airbnb said, as people moved gatherings from bars and clubs to rented homes. That led to the temporary ban in 2020.
While making the ban permanent, Airbnb said it will lift a limit of 16 people at rented properties. It said the cap was prompted by health concerns before vaccines against COVID-19 were available. McNama also noted that multi-generational families with more than 16 members they shouldn’t automatically be prevented from booking a home.
Airbnb hosts have always had the option of declining bookings at their properties, be it for a party or other reasons. The change, McNama says, is that after booking, if a host suspects their property will be used for a party, they can contact Airbnb to have the booking cancelled.
If a guests does throw a party at an Airbnb home – McNama said they could be temporarily or permanently banned from the site. Neighbours fed up with a noisy bash can also contact Airbnb directly through its neighbourhood support line, he added. “We would escalate that immediately.”
“The host community that we work with is very much in support of this,” McNama noted. “This comes from our guests as well. They want to ensure that they’re booking great places.”
