Airbnb has announced the launch of its Neighbourhood Support Line in South Africa where neighbours can report urgent concerns about a listing or guest behaviour in their local community.
Neighbours can visit www.airbnb.co.za/neighbours to request a call from a specialised support agent, who will aim to give them a call back within 10 minutes.
The Neighbourhood Support Line aims to address both immediate disturbances, such as an unauthorised party in progress, as well as possible long-term or recurring issues within the community.
The service is operated by Airbnb and builds on the company’s existing Neighbourhood Tool, which allows neighbours to submit complaints about a listing via an online form. Airbnb investigates reports received through these channels.
Velma Corcoran, the regional lead of Middle East Africa at Airbnb said Airbnb wanted to be a good partner to cities and local communities in South Africa.
“The vast majority of hosts and guests on Airbnb are good neighbours and respectful travellers who follow the rules. As travel returns to South Africa and we prepare for a busy summer, we want to take swift and robust action against anyone who doesn’t live up to the standards that communities expect, and the Neighbourhood Support Line will help us to crack down on the type of behaviour that isn’t welcome on Airbnb," she said.
The Neighbourhood Support Line is already live in 29 countries and territories globally, including France, Spain, Italy, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
"The launch follows the introduction of other measures by Airbnb to get tough on anti-social behaviour. These include extending the global ban on parties in listings on Airbnb, which has been embraced by our host community, elevating visibility of a listing’s house rules to guests, and hiring more community support staff," she added.