Airbnb announced Wednesday the introduction of new anti-party tools in the US and Canada to help identify potentially high-risk bookings and prevent those users from taking advantage of the platform.
In June, the property booking platform announced that its temporary ban on parties would become a permanent policy. Since parties continue to happen, Airbnb is still working to enforce this policy, taking steps to curb unauthorized parties—that is, parties organized without the knowledge or consent of the hosts.
“It is an integral part of our commitment to our host community, which respects its neighbors and does not want to be part of the property damage and other problems that can arise from unauthorized or disruptive parties,” the company said in a statement.
To that end, the company released a statement explaining how the new tool would work. The system will analyze factors such as the history of positive reviews (or lack thereof), the amount of time the guest has spent on Airbnb, the duration of the trip, the distance to the listing, whether it's a weekend or a weekday, among many others.
The main objective is to try to reduce the ability of bad actors to organize unauthorized parties that negatively impact hosts, neighbors, and communities.
“A similar variation of this system has been tested in Australia since October 2021, where it has been very effective. We’ve seen a 35% drop in unauthorized party incidents in the areas of Australia where this pilot has been in place. We expect similar success when we begin testing this in the US and Canada,” Airbnb noted.
The technology is designed to prevent booking attempts. Airbnb assures guests who are unable to book entire homes due to this system will still be able to book a private room (where the host is more likely to be physically present) or a hotel room through Airbnb.
They reported that they will transparently communicate the results of this trial phase and the next steps in their ban on parties.
Source: Diario Libre USA
