Airbnb to crack down on 'disruptive' NYE parties in Canada

The Airbnb app icon is seen on an iPad screen, Saturday, May 8, 2021, in Washington. (AP/Patrick Semansky)

Barrie -

Vacation rental company Airbnb says it will crack down on “disruptive” New Year’s Eve parties this year by banning single-night bookings for guests who do not have a history of positive reviews.

The company announced Tuesday that guests who don’t have positive reviews will not be allowed to make reservations for properties on New Year’s Eve in Canada, U.S., Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain and the U.K.

When it comes to two-night stays, Airbnb said it will “deploy more stringent restrictions,” on guests who “may pose heightened risk for disruptive parties.”

The company specified, though, that guests with a history of positive reviews will not be subject to the same restrictions on New Year’s Eve.

Airbnb said the move builds upon the company’s “Global Party Ban” announced in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which capped occupancy at its properties at 16 people.

This year’s crack down on New Year’s Eve parties is not new, however. Airbnb first introduced the restrictions last year as a pilot program in Canada, mainland U.S., Australia, France, Spain and the U.K.

“Approximately 243,000 guests globally encountered these defences during booking attempts ahead of NYE 2020,” the Airbnb website reads. “And we estimate that these efforts achieved our objectives of reducing disruptive parties.”

A spokesperson for Airbnb told CTV News that last year under the company’s New Year’s Eve safety policy, more than 13,000 people were deterred from booking in Canada.

The spokesperson said the New Year’s Eve restrictions will be implemented in conjunction with other protocols that are always in place to guard against high-risk reservations, such as redirecting local bookings for those under 25 and a ban on house parties.

The announcement from Airbnb comes just a week after the Canadian federal government lifted its global travel advisory which had been in place since March 2020, no longer urging the public to avoid all non-essential travel outside of the country.