Published on 23/05/2025 – 17:13 GMT+2

Planning a summer blowout? Don’t count on booking an Airbnb to host it.

The popular short-term rental platform says it is once again deploying anti-party technology to block “high-risk” bookings.

The system uses machine learning to screen guests based on warning signs, such as short stays, last-minute reservations and how far they live from the listing. If a booking is flagged, users are blocked from renting entire homes – though alternative accommodation options are suggested.

The move is part of the company’s push to “promote responsible travel and help hosts safeguard their spaces” during peak demand. Since launching a global ‘party ban’ in 2020, Airbnb says reports of disruptive events have dropped by half.

Airbnb faces a growing backlash in Europe

This is the fourth year Airbnb has used the system. In 2024, the company claims it stopped over 51,000 would-be partiers during the Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends in the US – two of the most popular travel weekends in the country.

While Airbnb cracks down on parties, the wider impacts of short-term rentals remain under scrutiny. That is especially true in European cities where the platform is blamed for rising rents, housing shortages and neighbourhood disruption.

Czechia, for example, has introduced limits on short-term rentals like Airbnb in its city centres to cut down on noise disturbances – a move welcomed by district councillors.

Amsterdam limits property owners to 60 rental days per year, one of many efforts to address overtourism, noise pollution and housing issues before they worsen. The city also introduced a ‘Stay Away’ campaign and interactive quiz to test visitors on behavioural etiquette to clamp down on rowdy parties and noise.

But few places have made Airbnb as big of a flashpoint as Spain – especiallyBarcelona.

The Catalonian capital already required permits for tourist rentals and imposed taxes and rental limits before it set out to ban the platform entirely.

Barcelona later announced plans to eliminate all 10,000 licensed short-term rental apartments by 2028. The move was made to prioritise housing for permanent residents and reduce the kinds of disturbances that have plagued its downtown, as well as cities such as Seville and Valencia.

Spain’s central government recently upped the pressure on Airbnb, ordering65,000 holiday listings removed nationwide for failure to follow rules and regulations.

Airbnb offers other tools to prevent disruptive stays

Founded in 2007 as a peer-to-peer platform, Airbnb has grown into a globe-spanning ecosystem that rivals the hotel industry. But as the platform has boomed, it has faced pressure from cities struggling to balance tourism growth with quality of life.

Airbnb says its anti-party screening is just one element of a broader strategy to ensure responsible stays and support hosts.

The platform also uses machine learning to screen global reservations for risky bookings and offers free noise sensors, a round-the-clock safety line and a support channel for law enforcement to report concerns.

Questions remain about the efficacy of these tools, but the message is clear: if you’re planning to party, don’t expect Airbnb to roll out the welcome mat.

By Euronews Travel

Published on 23/05/2025 – 12:40 GMT+2

TOURISE, a new platform from Saudi Arabia, aims to unite industry leaders, drive investment and rethink tourism’s future.

Tourism is bouncing back fast. The industry is expected to contribute nearly €11 trillion – or about 10 per cent of GDP – to the global economy this year. By 2035, that number could reach €15 trillion.

But with this growth comes outsized pressures, from climate change and AI disruption to workforce skill gaps and shifting traveller expectations.

Saudi Arabia hopes to help steer the sector through these challenges with a new initiative: TOURISE.

Launched this week by Saudi Arabia’s minister of tourism, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, TOURISE is a year-round global platform and annual summit designed to unite the public and private sectors, from policymakers and sustainability experts to entrepreneurs and investors.

“Global tourism is at a crossroads,” said Al-Khateeb. “We must decide which path to take will determine its future.”

A global platform based in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia sees itself as a natural hub for this new global effort. Aiming to attract 50 million international visitors by 2030, the kingdom sees its tourism sector growing rapidly. By 2032, three million people in Saudi Arabia, or around 17 per cent of the population, are expected to work in the industry, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

In 2024, the country hit its Vision 2030 goal of 100 million total visits seven years early.

Backed by a high-level advisory board, TOURISE will host its first summit in Riyadh from 11-13 November this year. The invite-only event will focus on themes such as AI-powered tourism, investment and innovation and building a more inclusive and resilient sector.

Organisers say the platform will continue year-round through digital collaboration, cross-sector working groups and new research, including white papers and indexes focused on tourism, sustainability and the global economy.

“We can design the future of tourism,” said Al-Khateeb.

The platform coincides with the launch of an awards programme that spotlights destinations excelling in areas such as sustainability, digital transformation and cultural preservation. Winners will be announced at the summit’s opening night in November.

TOURISE is chaired by Al-Khateeb, with an advisory board that includes senior figures from Cirque du Soleil, Amadeus, Heathrow Airport and the World Travel & Tourism Council.

“This is an invitation to the world; it is not a domestic event,” said Tourise CEO Jean-Philippe Cossé.

“TOURISE can give the global tourism and travel industry something it has never had: a single, united future-focused platform. It can set the global tourism agenda for the decades ahead.”

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Crete on Thursday, just over a week after a similar undersea tremor near the island was felt as far away as Egypt.

In February, a series of near-constant quakes were felt near the idyllic island of Santorini, which declared a state of emergency over the unusual seismic activity.

Although the earthquake off Crete prompted authorities to issue a tsunami warning and caused damage to buildings in the island’s historic port, experts say there is no evidence the recent cluster of tremors is connected or poses an unusually significant safety risk.

Rémy Bossu, Secretary-General of the European-Mediterranean Siesmological Centre, told Euronews that “everytime you go to Greece, you are going to a seismically active region.”

“The hazards are not significantly higher than they were yesterday, or in February.”

Nevertheless, tourists preparing a visit to islands in the Aegean should be prepared and read up on guidance on how best to protect themselves in the event of such tremors, which can be unsettling.

“The most likely cause of injuries is falling objects if you are inside. So you have to protect yourself by going below a table and avoiding open areas when possible,” Bossu says.

“The earthquake of such magnitude itself does not automatically injure people, but tiles from roofs or balconies might do if they collapse. So you have to know how to behave during an earthquake and above all, listen to what authorities say.”

The tsunami warning is automatically triggered in the Mediterranean in the event of an undersea earthquake that reaches magnitude 6, Bossu explains.

“Typically, for magnitude 6, you do not expect a large tsunami. For this level, what is advised is not to go into harbours because it can create a whirlpool and not go on the beach because you may have some rise in sea levels.”

Unusual seismic activity in Santorini

Thursday’s tremor was felt extensively throughout islands across the Aegean Sea and in parts of the Greek capital of Athens.

Residents of the island told Greek daily Ethnos that they awoke to alarming tremors and described hearing a loud roar following the aftershocks.

The fact that it occurred in the sea meant its damage however was ultimately minimal, director of the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, Vassilis Karastathis, told OPEN tv.

“I think the most likely scenario is that it will evolve exactly as it seems to evolve with a very weak post-earthquake sequence, Karastathis said, adding that seismologists in the Mediterranean country were monitoring the phenomenon.

More unusual was the earthquake near the volcanic island of Santorini in February, which experienced intense seismic activity known as an “earthquake swarm.” According to Bossu, there was a clear volcanic element to the tremors.

Thousands fled the popular holiday destination, which has since implemented measures to protect the location from a potential volcanic eruption.

Seismologist, Dr Nikolaos Melis, Director of Research at the Institute of Geodynamics, part of the National Observatory of Athens told Euronews that despite the high number of earthquakes in a short time span, researchers have no reason to believe that Greece will experience a devastatingly large earthquake anytime soon.

However such large earthquakes — such as one in Crete that killed one person in 2021 — are impossible to predict.

Sitting close to the boundary of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates the Greek islands, particularly the western Ionian islands, are sites of high seismic activity and are typically well-prepared for the dangers of aftershocks.

“For people who are not aware it can be frightening, and whilst it is not impossible for a big earthquake, most buildings and hotels follow a strict building code that protects them from damages,” Melis says.

“Greece has got the highest seismic activity in Europe and next to Turkey we have two countries with very high activity. But as I said, the big magnitudes, the catastrophic magnitudes, are very rare.”