The government’s $200m Tourism Communities: Support, Recovery and Re-set Plan targets 5 communities and the national tourism system. It will provide immediate support for those communities and encourage the tourism sector’s transformation in the long-term.
Great South is the lead agency for the delivery of the Tourism Communities: Support, Recovery and Re-set Plan in combination with the Regional Business Partner Network support currently provided.
Newly announced funding initiatives for tourism operators and communities as part of the governments tourism support package will be delivered by Great South.
The three initiatives are:
Business Advisory Support
- $10 million for Business Advisory Support (up to $5,000 per business) to enable businesses to receive expert advice and support, such as whether to change their business to target a different market, down-scale their tourism business, or exit the market.
Advice Implementation Grant
- $10 million in grants for businesses to implement the advice received through the Business Advisory Support fund, or satisfactory alternative provider (up to $5,000 per business).
Tourism Kick-start Fund
- $49 million Tourism Kick-start Fund to help prepare existing tourism businesses for the return of international visitors. The grant will be calculated based on two weeks of pre-COVID-19 revenue set at two weeks of average revenue for 2019.
- If your revenue in 2019 was $60,000-$260,000, you would receive $10,000.
- If your revenue in 2019 was more than $260,000, you would receive two weeks revenue up to a maximum of $50,000.
Eligibility Criteria
A business must:
- Be physically based within the Southland District.
- Be a GST registered business, or GST registered prior to COVID-19.
- Be a tourism business, which is defined as a business where at least 50 per cent of its operational output is purchased by tourists (domestic or international), for example: Accommodation, Arts and Recreational Services, Food Services, Transport Services or Retail Trade. This can include service businesses whose output is purchased by tourism businesses.
And in addition for the Tourism Kick-start Fund:
- Have engaged in hibernation-like activities, for example: reduced opening hours, level of services, or business capacity due to COVID-19. Compared to 2019, a business must have experienced a drop in revenue of at least 50 per cent on average.
- Not have received direct Government tourism support from the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme(external link).
Register your interest
Applications for these funds are not yet open.
Register your interest and get updates on these initiatives and funding applications by emailing tourismsupport@greatsouth.nz with:
- Business name
- Phone number
- Business physical address(es)
For further information, check the MBIE website or email tourismsupport@greatsouth.nz