Airbnb bans events and parties permanently

From today onward, Kenyans risk being suspended from Airbnb if caught hosting parties and events at homes on its platform. The announcement by the San Francisco based company, was made on Tuesday, June 28.

The rule had first been introduced in 2019 after a fatal shooting at a Halloween party in a house in California that saw five people die. Then in August 2020 when COVID-19 ravaged the globe, a temporary ban was introduced to curb parties as a public health measure.

According to Airbnb, they noticed the temporary ban became effective as it completely reduced rowdiness. "Over time, the party ban became much more than a public health measure. It developed into a bedrock community policy," the company said.

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The company while announcing the ban further stated that they recorded a 44 percent year-after-year drop in the rate of party reports since implementing the policy. In 2021 for example, over 6,600 guests were suspended from the app after breaching the rules.

Under the new policy, Airbnb will also lift its 16-person cap at rental properties, a rule enacted against COVID-19 but which will now take into account that certain larger or outdoor sites are OK for bigger groups.

"Removing this cap is meant to allow those hosts to responsibly utilise the space in their homes while still complying with our ban on disruptive parties. This new and long-term policy was enacted to help encourage and support community safety. We look forward to sharing updates in the coming weeks and months on our efforts to complement our community policies on parties," Airbnb concluded.