An update on our work to support neighbors around the world
Trust is a centerpiece of Airbnb, and we are committed to being good partners to our communities worldwide and helping to cultivate a safe return to travel. This means we will continue to invest in the tools that help promote safety and trust in the communities in which we operate. Today, we are excited to announce that we are expanding the Neighborhood Support Line to Japan, Brazil, and France, with plans to extend to other global markets in the near future.
Since 2016, Airbnb has offered support for neighbors to share their concerns about Airbnb listings in their area. Neighbors are able to submit a written complaint for our support team to review and follow-up on. We have since invested in new channels of communication and evolved the way in which our communities can contact us.
In December 2019, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky announced new functionality to include 24/7 phone support in the US, with the intent to expand that feature globally. Since then, the Neighborhood Support Line has expanded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands – and over the past week – to Japan, Brazil, and France. This support line has proven to be an important tool in our efforts to combat unauthorized gatherings and enforce our global ban on parties even faster.
In markets around the world, we have increased our work to remove or suspend listings that have proven to cause issues in their neighborhoods. Across the US, UK, and Australia, concerns raised by neighbors helped lead to the suspension or removal of dozens of listings. As we continue to expand our tools, feedback from neighbors will play an important role in our work to crack down on listings and Hosts who violate our rules.
We are also working on establishing Spanish-language functionality for the Neighborhood Support Line and will announce details soon.
By adding this additional communication channel, our goal is to make it easier for neighbors to share their concerns so that our dedicated Neighbor Support Team can investigate issues that arise. We understand that neighbors’ concerns vary from country to country, from city to city, and even neighborhood to neighborhood –– there is no one-size-fits all approach to addressing these issues. Allowing neighbors to communicate in a way they feel most comfortable is a priority, and we look forward to continuing to develop these tools worldwide.