14th May 2020 By Staff Reporter | news@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker
New Zealand Māori Tourism has secured a $10m contingency fund to help repurpose and reposition the Māori tourism sector.
The money will come from the Government’s $400m Tourism Recovery Fund, which is focused on helping the sector recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pania Tyson-Nathan
“Tourism operators will be relieved at the extended wage subsidy, a new contingency fund and a strategic assets programme announced in Budget 2020, which recognises the long road ahead for many thousands of businesses and people who work in the sector,” NZ Māori Tourism chief executive Pania Tyson-Nathan said.
“As New Zealand’s largest export sector, we’ve been particularly hard hit by the closure of international borders and domestic lockdown measures to control the spread of Covid-19.
“Today marks the beginning of the recovery as businesses like Rotorua’s Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland reopen their doors for local visitors.”
Tyson-Nathan wanted the planned Tourism Recovery Ministers Group and the Tourism Futures Taskforce to address the burden of cumulative compliance costs on tourism businesses, which were already under pressure.
“Even a short-term reprieve on these costs would go a long way to help operators to keep their doors open in the tough times ahead, while also enabling them to improve productivity,” she said.
Māori tourism operators employed about 14,000 people across the country.
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