Renson Mwakandana
The pandemic-era ban on parties has been made permanent by Airbnb, which announced Tuesday that the guidelines had been successful in preventing disruptive events.
Following complaints and some high-profile issues, like a 2019 shooting that left five people dead in California, the rental site has increasingly tightened its party restrictions.
Airbnb temporarily banned events in 2020 as a countermeasure to the spread of Covid, but it later became clear that it was equally effective against sizable or disruptive crowds.
“Over time, the party ban became much more than a public health measure. It developed into a bedrock community policy.”
Previously, it was up to property owners to decide whether to allow parties or not, but regulations have since been strengthened to forbid “party houses” and sizable gatherings promoted on social media.
People in some cases started throwing gatherings at locations booked through Airbnb once the epidemic struck, forcing the closure of several nightlife establishments, which in turn caused a problem.
But Airbnb asserted that the stricter regulations had been successful in lowering the volume of noise complaints it has received. Since instituting the policy, the firm reported noticing a 44 percent decrease in the rate of party reports year over year.
Airbnb will also raise its 16-person limit at rental houses under the new policy. This restriction was imposed to punish Covid, but it will now take into account that some larger or outdoor locations are suitable for larger parties.
The business stated that violators risk penalties ranging from account suspension to complete expulsion from the network and that in 2021, approximately 6,600 users had their accounts terminated due to the party prohibition.
The business said in May 2022 that its first-quarter sales, which totalled $1.5 billion, were up 70% over the prior year. The business anticipated sales for the second quarter of the year to be between $2.03 billion and $2.13 billion, which was above market expectations.
