New Zealand's business events industry to receive support through the latest Events Transition Support Payment Scheme. Photo Credit: Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre
Business events in New Zealand see positive light with recent
announcement of government support scheme to help the industry. This
comes amid calls by events industry leaders to accelerate the reopening
of international borders and suspension of self-quarantine measures,
which are critical for business delegates.
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash announced the
launch of the Events Transition Support Payment Scheme (ETSP) for
business events with over 200 attendees on 12 February. He acknowledged
business events as a key source of revenue for convention centres and
other venues that are not typically used for large-scale events.
Business Events Industry Aotearoa Chief Executive Lisa Hopkins said,
“When a business event is held, it not only brings much-needed
contribution to the tourism and hospitality sectors, but also impacts
positively on the community. It supports a highly skilled and dedicated
supply chain, who have really felt the impact of restrictions over the
past couple of years.”
Under
the ETSP scheme, organisers of an eligible event can claim 90 percent
of unrecoverable costs if it can’t go ahead due to public health
measures for events. It will be valid for events scheduled from 4 April
to 31 January 2023.
The ETSP scheme announced in November last year supported event
organisers of large-scale events such as festivals but did not include
business events.
Business events must have been publicly announced or have been active
in the market before 23 January 2022 for events scheduled to begin
before 1 July 2022; or at least four months prior to the event date for
events scheduled to begin on or after 1 July 2022.