Airbnb’s Party Ban to Continue Through Summer Despite Eased Restrictions

To access the Herald’s local coronavirus/COVID-19 coverage, click here.
SAN FRANCISCO – With Covid restrictions beginning to ease in regions, such as the U.S. and the UK, travel is coming back, which will benefit Airbnb hosts and the communities in which the company operates. 
According to a release, during this exciting transition, Airbnb is continuing its work to try to cultivate safe and responsible travel through its platform. In August 2020, it instituted a global ban on parties, which it indicated at the time would “remain in effect indefinitely until further notice.” This policy has proven to be popular with host community – the vast majority of whom already prohibited parties in their own house rules. 
The company announced May 27that this ban is being extended through at least the end of summer 2021.
At the time of the August 2020 policy change, Covid cases were spiking, and vaccines were not yet approved. As Airbnb said, and still believes now, this indefinite ban was in the best interest of public health. 
While the public health concerns were paramount, other important factors motivated the company’s implementation of the party ban. As Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said recently, with regards to the party ban, “We want to be really good community players all over the world.”
Throughout the past few weeks, Airbnb has heard from members of the community who have sought clarity on whether the ban would remain in effect, particularly from community members in the regions that are gradually reopening. Airbnb announced the extension of the ban through at least the end of Summer 2021 to provide them with that clarity, as well as to be as direct as possible that it will not tolerate behavior that disrupts neighborhoods or violates the trust of its host community. 
At the end of Summer 2021, Airbnb will provide another update on the future of the policy.
As part of the ban, Airbnb also took measures within its platform to promote responsible behavior, such as removing the “event-friendly” search filter and removing any “parties and events allowed” house rules in listings. Those features will also remain inaccessible through at least the end of Summer 2021.
To fulfill this commitment and complement the ban, Airbnb will continue implementing numerous systems aimed at helping to prevent unauthorized parties, which are in effect in a number of countries. This includes its Neighborhood Support Line, which provides a forum for neighbors to report issues or concerns directly to Airbnb regarding disruptive parties, as well as an initiative in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France and Spain, that restricts guests under the age of 25 from booking entire home listings in their local area under certain circumstances. 
In the U.S., Airbnb has announced that guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will be prohibited from making one-night reservations in entire home listings the during the July 4 weekend, as part of those efforts to promote safe and responsible travel.