This week Tourism Minister Stuart Nash announced details of how tourism operators and communities can access the help announced in May as part of the government’s $200 million Tourism Communities: Support, Recovery and Re-set Plan.

“Agreements have now been put in place with District Health Boards in the lower South Island to deliver this crucial support to regional communities,” Stuart says.

“The $4.5 million investment allows DHBs to provide support in Kaikōura (Canterbury DHB), Mackenzie District (South Canterbury DHB), Queenstown Lakes and Fiordland (Southern DHB), and Westland (West Coast DHB).

“The DHBs will provide a range of mental well-being services and initiatives at a local level. They will work with communities to decide what’s needed and how it’s delivered.

“Businesses, workers and their families in our tourism destinations are facing challenges from border closures designed to keep New Zealand safe. 

“The support in the Tourism Communities Plan allows decisions about wellbeing resources and services to be made by those at the heart of the communities themselves.” 

Stuart also says work on further business support initiatives in the five communities is progressing, and more information about eligibility criteria is available.

“Each community now has a lead entity to manage the business support services, and recruitment is underway locally to support them. The initiatives include business advisory support, a grant to implement the advice, and a kick-start fund. They are on track to be available from later next month.

“We want access to this support to be easy for businesses to tap into.  Businesses will be talking to one person locally about what support is right for them. I encourage businesses in the five communities to check their eligibility criteria on the MBIE website,” Stuart says.

More information is available on the Tourism Recovery section of the MBIE website. The business support initiatives are:

• $10 million Business Advisory Support fund (up to $5,000 per business) to enable businesses to receive expert advice and support such as changing target market, or scaling their business.
• $10 million in grants for businesses to implement business advice
• (up to $5,000 per business).
• $49 million Tourism Kick-start Fund, to contribute towards existing tourism businesses scaling back up for the return of international visitors. The grant will be calculated based on two weeks of pre-COVID revenue set at two weeks of average revenue for 2019. 

The government is working with four existing regional organisations to act as lead entities to roll out the business support initiatives in the five South Island communities, as follows:

• Queenstown Lakes District Council for Queenstown Lakes District
• ChristchurchNZ for Kaikōura and Mackenzie Districts
• Great South for Southland District
• Development West Coast for Westland District

Meanwhile, the $3 million, two-year fund to support psychosocial wellbeing in Southern communities worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions has been welcomed by Southern DHB and Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing (formerly known as the Central-Lakes Mental Wellbeing Recovery Group). 

Southern DHB’s Mental Health Director of Allied Health, and chair of Te Hau Toka, Adell Cox, says the psychosocial support fund means key opportunities the group has identified for supporting the community – such as extending the rollout of the Mental Health 101 programme – can now be fast tracked.

Te Hau Toka will also progress co-design work with affected communities to find the best ways of meeting their needs, and establish a process to evaluate and support further initiatives that may be proposed by the community, Adell says. 

“It has been a very tough 12 months for industries and communities that depend on travellers, and for our international residents who are far from their families and friends and may be witnessing very tragic effects of the pandemic from afar. 

“In the past year, we’ve worked closely with agencies and affected communities, and have a good sense of what’s needed to help. In particular, we see opportunities to support our business communities, new parents, migrant communities, young people and some of our older population."

Southern DHB Chief Executive Chris Fleming agrees, commenting that the fund is an acknowledgement that the impact of COVID-19 goes far beyond a physical illness. 

"It also significantly alters our sense of wellbeing and security. As a community, we all have a role in supporting each other and developing the strategies to cope in really uncertain times,” Chris says. 

“It’s tremendous to have this opportunity to direct dedicated resources to areas where they are needed.” 

Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing

Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing was formed following the COVID lockdown in 2020 to activate the local COVID-19 Psychosocial and Mental Wellbeing Recovery Plan, aligned to the national MOH Kia Kaha, Kia Maia, Kia Ora Aotearoa. 

Its aim is to facilitate connections, provide trusted information, and drive actions to support the mental well-being and recovery of our communities.  

The team includes members from Southern DHB, WellSouth Primary Health Network, Queenstown Lakes District Council, Southland District Council, Central Lakes Family Services and Tahuna-Whakatipu Māori Community.

With the support of local trusts it has also appointed a Mental Wellbeing Navigator to help connect organisations with the support available and identify service gaps. 

As well as developing a roadmap of initiatives to be supported by the Government fund, Te Hau Toka will develop a framework and criteria for evaluating proposals from the community.