Airbnb globally bans one-night NYE bookings to curb rowdy parties

If you had planned on booking an Airbnb for one night to party for New Year’s Eve – think again.

The short-term stays platform has enforced new rules globally that will see a ban on some guests booking a property for just a night on December 31 to prevent parties.

The anti-party restrictions will be in effect over the New Year’s Eve weekend in 11 countries, including Australia, the US, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, France and Spain.

Last year, Airbnb said roughly 340,000 guests globally were blocked or redirected from attempting to book on Airbnb over NYE, including more than 120,000 guests in the US, over 34,500 guests in the UK, and almost 13,000 guests in Australia.

In a statement released on Thursday, Airbnb said while the overwhelming majority of guests are respectful neighbors and travelers, it is also committed to reducing instances of unauthorized parties – something that is heightened on December 31.

“To that end, we are introducing restrictions on certain types of bookings over New Year’s Eve,” the statement read.

“These 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.”

It 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.

Naba Banerjee, Director of Trust Product and Operations at Airbnb, said: “Stays take place across the world each night on Airbnb, with the overwhelming majority of guests and Hosts being respectful of neighbors and delivering benefits to their local community.

“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.”

The heightened rules are being rolled out following a successful trial last year, Airbnb said.

“This wider rollout follows the successful trial of these automated defenses in eight countries over NYE last year as part of our efforts to help enforce our global ban on parties, which we codified earlier this summer,” it stated.

“We estimate that the measures have contributed to a year-over-year global drop in rates of party incidents over NYE of roughly 56 percent, since the defenses were first piloted in 2020.”

It has also launched reservation screening technology, which blocks certain bookings that show an increased risk for disruptive parties and property damage and hosts can also obtain a free noise sensor.