The Town of Bonavista is cracking down on Airbnb’s by bringing in strict taxes and cutting services if people don’t comply.

Mayor John Norman says they’re trying to better regulate accommodations as over the past few years Bonavista has become a hot spot for tourists.

He says the number of Airbnb’s has sky rocketed and the Town has concerns around revenue, services that the town has to provide these operators, zoning and more.

Norman says now, they’ll treat Airbnb’s like a commercial property. He says they’ll assess the value of the property itself like they would with a commercial property, then apply the same tax rates to an Airbnb so it’s no longer registered as a private residence, but taxed as commercial.

Norman says they have had over a dozen new accommodations open in Bonavista since February of this year.

He says it’s a big business and registered accommodates in the region are a bit frustrated, and want to make sure the Airbnb’s, like themselves, pay their fair share.