Airbnb activates ‘defences’ to stop unauthorised New Year parties
The property booking platform has used technology to disrupt attempts to set up unauthorised parties around New Year since 2020.
Airbnb has activated artificial intelligence-powered tools to help spot and block unauthorised and disruptive New Year’s Eve parties being organised via the platform.
The property booking platform said it had introduced measures which use machine learning to identify and block potentially higher-risk bookings of entire home listings from being made.
The technology looks at signals such as the length of the trip, type of listing, distance from a guest’s location and when the reservation is being made to help determine whether it could be a higher risk.
If flagged as higher risk, guests are either blocked from booking, or redirected to alternative accommodations on the platform.
The company started using the restrictions in 2020, and says that since then it has seen a significant drop in the rate of parties reported to the firm.
Airbnb said that last year alone nearly 74,000 people were blocked from making a booking, including around 7,800 in the UK.
This included around 2,900 bookings in London and 470 in Manchester.
Amanda Cupples, Airbnb general manager for the UK and northern Europe, said: “While issues are rare, we want to do our part to help reduce the risk of unauthorised and disruptive parties.
“Airbnb is committed to supporting hosts and the communities they live in, and we hope these defences allow guests, hosts and neighbours to celebrate the holiday with added reassurance.”
The firm said the measures would be in effect in the run-up to and over New Year in countries and regions around the world, with restrictions in place on one to three-night reservations.
In addition, guests who make reservations will be required to confirm that they understand unauthorised and disruptive parties are not allowed on Airbnb, and face suspension from the platform if this policy is found to have been breached.
