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Airbnb is continuing its crackdown on illegal “party bookings” with a new partnership.
As reported by WRAL TechWire, the company is teaming up with smart home security company Mînut to provide hosts with a free sensor and three complimentary months of their subscription service to monitor noise and occupancy. Airbnb has already added new features to its mobile application to assist hosts with resolving potential noise concerns or complaints “seamlessly via on-platform messaging,” according to a company spokesperson.
In a statement, the company noted that this is the latest in a string of actions taken “to promote responsible behavior and enforce our anti-party stance.”
Since the party ban was placed in 2020, Airbnb has seen a 70% year-over-year reduction in reported parties from North Carolina properties. The company spokesperson noted that “nearly 2,900 people were deterred by our various anti-party defenses from booking entire home listings over Halloween 2021.”
The new Mînut collaboration will enable hosts to install a sensor provided by the company in their home that is listed on the company’s platform. However, it only records decibel levels, not sound or audio. Airbnb noted that this would still ensure guest privacy. Still, hosts will have to disclose whether such a sensor is installed in the home.
“Stays take place across the world each night on Airbnb, with the vast majority being respectful of Hosts’ homes and neighborhoods and sharing the benefits of tourism with local communities,” said Catherine Powell, global head of hosting at Airbnb, in a statement. “This collaboration with Mînut continues our commitment to encourage safe and responsible travel on Airbnb, and further empowers our Host community to stop unauthorized parties.”
Following the implementation of the party ban, which was extended earlier this year, there was a 44% year-over-year drop in party reports. It was implemented in August 2020, with the company enforcing the crackdown on listings in the Triangle that December. Still, NC hosts generated the 6th-most revenue of any U.S. state in 2021, as reported in March.
Airbnb Continues Party Crackdown With Noise Sensors was originally published on hiphopnc.com
