Hospitality Industry Welcomes $2.6 Million Investment In Regional Events
'Each of our regions have a unique food and beverage story that is vital to New Zealand's overall appeal as an international destination of choice.' says Marisa Bidois, Chief Executive of the Restaurant Association.
'From Northland's recognition in National Geographic's Best of the World 2025, to Hastings' nomination as a UNESCO city of gastronomy, it is clear that our regions being strong and resilient is a key part of maintaining our tourism brand on the global stage,' says Marisa.
With a year-long outlook and a focus on supporting regional events, the Regional Events Promotion Fund is a positive step towards encouraging domestic tourism and bolstering regions and industry across Aotearoa.
'All events play a critical role in attracting visitors to our regions and bringing our town centres to life, however there are a number of investments supporting food and beverage specific events across the country over the coming year, which we are particularly proud to see.'
Coupled with the Government's regional tourism boost, the Regional Events Promotion Fund gives regions an opportunity to shine and share their unique stories.
'We look forward to supporting our industry to make the most of these events over the coming year, and to put our regional food and beverage stories front and centre of our tourism offering as a country.'
Note:
The Restaurant Association is the link between good food, and good business. It supports New Zealand's diverse and creative hospitality businesses to deliver first class experiences to diners. Since its humble beginnings in 1972, it has worked to offer advice, help and assistance in every facet of the vibrant and diverse hospitality industry.
The organisation now represents, advocates and cheerleads for more than 2500 hospitality businesses within New Zealand. It offers 24/7 advice and assistance on key industry issues, from property lease advice to wellness in the workplace.
The Association provides its members with industry-wide accreditation programs which set best practice standards and help them measure how they're tracking. It also works in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development to deliver the Hospostart and Springboard training programmes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Auckland Airport's net income lifts strongly after last year's results hit by tax bill
Auckland Airport showed a net profit of $420.7 million compared to $5.5m last year. Photo: 123RF Auckland Airport's bottom line has lifted strongly after last year's results were affected by a tax bill, while underlying profit also rose, as rental income improved, it increased aeronautical charges and had lower interest and tax expenses. Key numbers for the 12 months ended June compared with a year ago: Airfield income rose by $20.4 million, passenger services income increased by $36.6m and rental income was also up, by $22.6m. The previous year's bottom line was affected by a significant tax bill due to a change in government policy on depreciation of building structures. Passenger numbers were only slightly higher due to the soft recovery in travel volumes, with the airport saying international seat capacity stabilised at 92 percent of 2019 levels. Auckland Airport chair Julia Hoare said recovering and growing airline seat capacity was a top priority for the airport. "International airlines continue to have to prioritise their available fleet in the short term, but the future outlook remains positive with New Zealand well-positioned for growth - boosted by several airline partners announcing new routes and expanded capacity for the coming summer." Overall domestic capacity was steady despite Jetstar growing its capacity by 14 percent, largely due to Air New Zealand's ongoing engine and fleet issues. Chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said it was a solid performance despite seat capacity constraints. "As we navigate through these challenges, we continue to be focused on prudent cost management and delivering the resilient and fit-for-purpose gateway New Zealand needs to maintain our competitiveness as a nation." Looking ahead, Hurihanganui said airline seat capacity constraints, a weaker domestic economy, global geopolitics and ongoing construction due to the terminal rebuild would contribute to uncertainty around the outlook. Auckland Airport projected domestic and international passenger numbers of 19.2m in the year ending June 2026, and an underlying earnings guidance of between $280m and $320m. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
16 hours ago
- Scoop
Rotorua Lakes Council Calls For Fair Share Of Online Gambling Profits
Rotorua Lakes Council wants communities to get a share of the profits under the Government's Online Casino Gambling Bill. The controversial bill has sparked concerns from sporting organisations, who fear it will impact existing funding models. However, the minister presenting the bill has argued there is little evidence to support the case and warned that community funding provisions could do more harm than good. New Zealanders can currently gamble on offshore websites, but it is largely unregulated. The proposed bill, which passed its first reading in July, aims to regulate offshore online casino gambling and license up to 15 international operators. At present, the bill offers no obligation for operators to provide community funding. In its submission on Friday, Rotorua Lakes Council urged the select committee to consider adding a policy requiring a percentage of profit to be returned to communities. The council also wanted a proposed 12% online gambling duty to be reinvested into local problem gambling. 'It is only right that where possible, profits generated from gambling [are] reinvested into local communities through initiatives that aim to uplift and provide long-lasting change,' the council submission said. The submission also raised significant concerns around online and social media advertising and its impact on younger and inexperienced gamblers. At present, proceeds from Class 4 gaming machines, or pokies, are managed by community gaming trusts. Legislation requires they return at least 40% of net proceeds into the community in the form of grants, with more than $300 million distributed annually to community groups, including those involved in sport, education, health and the arts. Sporting organisations believe they are particularly vulnerable to the new bill, with gaming trust funding playing a huge role in grassroots activity. Last year, sport was by far the leading recipient of such grants in Rotorua, receiving $3.25m of the $7.4m available – more than double the next highest category received. Regional sport trust Sport Bay of Plenty received nearly $360,000 in grants from the Lion Foundation and the New Zealand Community Trust in the 2024 financial year. The trust is one of more than 50 sporting organisations nationwide that have formed a 'collective sport voice' urging the Government to ensure online casino profits return to communities. Sport Bay of Plenty said the organisation opposes the current form of the bill, which 'fails to uphold the long-standing principle that gambling profits should benefit the community'. It highlighted that roughly half of the funding from sport grants goes to clubs, covering expenses such as equipment, uniforms and coaching, with none going to high performance. Sport Bay of Plenty would not comment on the ethical concerns raised regarding gambling money largely funding community sport. A 2020 white paper by the Problem Gambling Foundation, Hāpai te Hauora and the Salvation Army warned that the current model is ethically and financially unstable, with funds disproportionately sourced from vulnerable, problem-gambling populations in deprived areas. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden expressed concern this week in Parliament over repeating the same model with online gambling. 'When community groups are reliant on funding from the proceeds of gambling, there is an incentive to increase gambling in order to increase revenue for those organisations,' van Velden said. The Department of Internal Affairs had advised the minister that this model would make it harder to reduce gambling, because 'community organisations are dependent on the funding that they receive'. Van Velden also said there is 'no evidence' that regulation of online gambling will reduce the current funding pool, but remained 'open' to the idea of community returns. She will meet representatives from the sporting community this week. Rotorua has 24 Class 4 venues. This is higher than the national average by population proportion. The current Class 4 and TAB venue policy caps gaming machines at 350, but that is currently exceeded with 362, with 74% of pokies in the district's poorest areas. Annual gambling losses in Rotorua exceed $26m and in 2022-23, 5.33% of gambling interventions were in Rotorua, ranking third nationwide, above Wellington, Hamilton and Tauranga. Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell supported the council's submission but previously admitted deep concerns from the community 'around the morals' of the current model. 'Even though it benefits the community, we know it is being collected by an activity that causes significant harm in our community,' Tapsell said in a council meeting in late July. Submissions for the Online Casino Gambling Bill closed on Sunday, with a subsequent report due in November. Note: Mathew Nash was previously employed as communications manager at Sport Bay of Plenty.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Rotorua Lakes Council calls for fair share of online gambling profits
Rotorua Lakes Council wants communities to get a share of the profits under the Government's Online Casino Gambling Bill. The controversial bill has sparked concerns from sporting organisations, who fear it will impact existing funding models. However, the minister presenting the bill has argued there is little evidence to support
