Chris Lehane, vice president of global policy and communications for Airbnb, spoke to Fox News about how Airbnb is innovating to meet new behavioral trends in the travel industry.
Airbnb will prevent some of its youngest guests from the US from booking houses in their local area in a continuing effort to crack down on unauthorized parties in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Reducing the number of unauthorized home parties on Airbnb has always been a priority, and it is now more important than ever,” the company said in a blog post on Thursday. “With public health mandates across the country, we are taking steps to support safe and responsible travel in the United States.”
AIRBNB REMINDERS USERS OF PROJECT LIGHTHOUSE ANTI-DISCRIMINATION INITIATIVE
All guests under the age of 25 with less than three positive comments will not be able to book full listings of homes in their area. However, they will still be able to book houses outside their local areas, as well as private rooms and hotel rooms, regardless of where they live.
Guests under the age of 25 with at least three positive Airbnb comments and no negative comments will not be subject to the restrictions.
“The overwhelming majority of guests treat Airbnb listings as if they were in their own homes and neighborhoods, and 99.95% of Airbnb trips have no security-related issues,” the company noted. “But given the scale at which the Airbnb platform operates, we want to continue investing in solutions to get that percentage as close to 100% as possible.”
CORONAVIRUS HAS ALWAYS TRANSFORMED THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY, SAID AIRBNB CEO
Airbnb added that while guests under the age of 25 will always find a way to avoid the company’s security policies, and that “people over 24 are also perfectly capable of booking a home for the wrong reasons,” it believes that The new policy is “the correct action to continue protecting the security of our community.”
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The policy was put to the test in Canada earlier this year, which the company says has led to a “significant drop” in unauthorized parties.
Airbnb began banning “party houses” last November after five people were shot dead during an unauthorized party at an Airbnb rental in Orinda, California, according to the Associated Press.
“We must do better, and we will,” CEO Brian Chesky tweeted about the incident. “This is unacceptable,”
As a result of the incident, the company was reported to have established a rapid response team to address complaints from neighbors and began reviewing “high risk” reservations, such as overnight reservations in large houses.
The news comes ahead of the July 4 weekend celebrations, confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States have reached more than 2.7 million, and deaths have exceeded 128,000, according to the latest update from Johns Hopkins University.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
