The 'COVID-19' coronavirus pandemic is still plaguing the world. With many countries struggling to contain the virus' spread, they need all the helping hands to make people comply with the health protocols.
Airbnb is an American vacation rental online marketplace company, founded by Brian Chesky in 2008. By offering arrangement for lodging, primarily homestays, or tourism experiences, Airbnb that acts as the broker between the host and the guest, is known to have disrupted the hotel industry.
But despite the pandemic has made travelling more difficult, there is no saying when and where the next home is up for rent.
In order to comply with the health protocols, the San Francisco-based home-sharing company introduces a 'Global Party Ban'.
The company in a blog post said that it is prohibiting gatherings, parties or events that involve a lot of people in one crowded space. It is also limit occupancy to no more than 16 people (with a few exceptions).
Citing the reason for the change of rules, Airbnb said that some of its customers have chosen to “take bar and club behavior to homes, sometimes rented through our platform.”
For hosts and guests ho don't comply with its rules, Airbnb said that it will expel them, or take legal actions against them:
Unauthorized parties have long been prohibited by most hosts.
The company noted that 73% of Airbnb listings worldwide already banned parties in their house rules.
Previously, hosts were allowed to only authorize smaller parties such as birthday parties and baby showers, Airbnb said. But in 2019, the company put stricter limits on parties, and started banning "party houses" that were consistently causing neighborhood disturbances.
This happened not long after a 2018 incident where a fatal Halloween night shooting left five people dead at a listed home in California.
In its statement Airbnb described "instituting a global ban on parties and events" as being "in the best interest of public health".
In addition to banning parties and events, as well as putting a limit to occupancy, Airbnb also introduces policies to require guests to follow all local COVID-19 health mandates. Airbnb also removed filters like the "event-friendly" from its search results.
The rules are global and applies to all Airbnb offers around the world. They will remain in effect indefinitely, especially during the time that the coronavirus crisis is far from over.
Just like most other companies, the coronavirus-induced lockdowns have indeed hurt Airbnb’s core business. The company makes most its money from commissions users made on each booking. With the crisis, Airbnb that conducts business within the hospitality industry, is affected in a bad way.
Sales growth slowed and profit was squeezed as travel came to almost a halt around the world.
As a result, Airbnb has laid off 25% of staff amid travel downturn that significantly reduced its earnings.
On August 19 however, Airbnb with confident announced that it had submitted confidential paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. This follows after many countries around the world started to loosen up their travel restrictions and travel bans.
