Airbnb again cracking down New Year’s Eve parties in Puerto Rico
Online short-term property rental platform Airbnb announced it will ban New Year’s Eve parties in Puerto Rico and across the globe, for the third consecutive year.
In Puerto Rico last year, more than 800 people were blocked or redirected when trying to book through Airbnb on New Year’s Eve, the company confirmed.
The crackdown will see ban on some guests making one-night NYE bookings in 11 countries — the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, the UK, and — new for 2022 — Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands.
The measures taken last year contributed to a 56% drop in New Year’s Eve party incident rates, as 340,000 people were blocked from having unauthorized events.
This year, the 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. Airbnb 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.
“Stays take place across the world each night on Airbnb, with most guests and hosts being respectful of neighbors and delivering benefits to their local community,” said Naba Banerjee, director of Trust Product and Operations at Airbnb said.
“These proactive defenses will help to promote responsible travel and help to prevent rare instances of unwelcome behavior, and enable hosts, guests and communities to enjoy their end of year celebrations with added reassurance,” Banerjee said.
Since introducing its global party ban in August 2020, there has been a 77% year-over-year drop in the rate of party reports in Puerto Rico, Airbnb stated.
