Airbnb, the digital tourist rental company, will now require verification of guests and hosts operating on its platform. The objective of this measure is to put an end to fraud and some illegal behavior by customers, such as the organization of unauthorized parties. The changes will be applied from this summer, as announced by the company through a statement, in which they explain that what they want is to improve trust in the platform.
The platform will require this verification of users on a global scale to ensure that guests and hosts are trustworthy and, therefore, minimize the risk of scams and inappropriate behavior. In case it is not completed, the hosts will have their calendars blocked, so they will not be able to receive reservations. For their part, guests will not be able to request any accommodation. With this blocking, it will be guaranteed that only users who have the "verified identity" in their account are operational on the platform.
These verification measures are a step further than the one that the platform already implemented last 2021 in Barcelona. In Barcelona, they launched a mandatory postal verification protocol for hosts who publish a new ad on the platform. To prevent the ads from being fraudulent, beyond requiring a real accommodation address, they were sent an activation code that was essential to be able to publish the ad.
They have also formed an alliance with the National Police and online safety experts Confianza Online to share guidelines and advice for travelers to book safely, as well as new technology to identify "potentially risky" reservations for non-party parties. authorized. Thus, Airbnb guarantees that reservations, payments and communications "will be protected by the company's secure processes and assistance."
With new booking control technology and unauthorized party prevention measures implemented in August 2020, “there has been a 55% global two-year decline in reported parties on the platform” since then. And with the aim of making Airbnb a safe service for both parties, the platform indicated in the statement that "adequate and pertinent measures will be taken" in the event of any violation of company policies.
And in this way to guarantee that illegal parties do not take place and also to avoid inconvenience to the residents of the accommodations, Airbnb offers hosts a free noise sensor, thanks to the collaboration they have with the company Roomonitor. In this way, incidents can be resolved quickly and "always respecting the privacy of guests".
