This is how Airbnb is cracking down on people who plan to host New Year's Eve parties in its rental properties

The holiday property rental giant aims to weed out potentially rowdy groups from making end-of-year bookings in Spain, including those planning to head to Malaga and the Costa del Sol

Pilar Martínez

Malaga

Sunday, 24 December 2023, 09:06

Holiday rental giant Airbnb is again cracking the whip on New Year's Eve parties in Spain and banning people from booking out apartments, houses and villas who want to host rowdy get-togethers.

The online platform started getting serious on New Year's Eve parties in 2020, and since then, the company has prevented thousands of people worldwide from booking entire properties to welcome in a new year.

Airbnb claims that last year alone in Spain some 8,050 guests were blocked or redirected when trying to book for New Year's Eve. Among them, approximately 150 were located in Malaga, a far cry from the 1,000 guests rejected in Madrid and Barcelona, or the 480 in Valencia. "Since we first implemented the prevention measures for New Year's Eve in 2020, the platform has seen a 92% decrease in incidents in Spain during this key date," Airbnb said.

In 2021, 15% of New Year Eve parties were prevented in Spain, where the bookings of more than 23,500 people were blocked, more than 500 in Seville, more than 500 in Malaga and more than 100 in Marbella.

How does Airbnb know that you're booking your holiday property for a party?

Technology serves it up on a plate. The platform has developed a patented technology based on artificial intelligence and analyses booking attempts for these dates, especially for one, two and three-night bookings for entire properties. As soon as it detects any potential risk of an unauthorised party, it blocks them.

To do this, the technology analyses hundreds of signs that could indicate a booking is at a higher risk, such as the length of the trip, the distance between the accommodation and the guest's location, the type of space selected and whether it is a last-minute booking, among many other variables.

Naba Banerjee, head of trust and safety at Airbnb, said: "We are focused on taking an approach that allows us to implement this technology in a way that benefits hosts, guests and local neighbourhoods alike. We are confident that these measures will have a positive impact in the various communities where they will be implemented this New Year's Eve".

Indicators

The system has been implemented in Spain, the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand. In these countries, restrictions are set on bookings of one to three nights, so AI-based technology will block bookings of entire accommodations considered high risk. One of the key indicators is that they are residents from the same area where they want to book the accommodation. Alerts are also raised for single-night bookings of entire accommodations made by guests who have never booked on the platform or do not have a positive review history, as well as guests who repeatedly attempt to make two or three night bookings.

The holiday rental giant has also introduced a free noise sensor for hosts and a mandatory declaration against unauthorised parties, in which guests who can make bookings must confirm that they understand Airbnb prohibits unauthorised parties and that, if they break this rule, they risk being suspended or banned from the platform.

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