Hawke's Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton says he is pleased to see tourism included within the Budget with a $400 million targeted fund and the extended wage subsidy. Photo / Ian Cooper
Hawke's Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton says he is pleased to see tourism included within the Budget with a $400 million targeted fund and the extended wage subsidy. Photo / Ian Cooper
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About 6000 tourism jobs in Hawke's Bay are poised for a boost with Budget investment and extended wage subsidies - but for business experts it's just the start.
According to this year's Budget the Government is spending a mammoth $50 billion on its Covid-19 recovery plan in a bid to save almost 140,000 jobs nationwide.
It's the single biggest spending package in New Zealand's history.
Hawke's Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton said he was pleased to see tourism included within the Budget with a $400 million targeted fund and the extended wage subsidy.
He said it will be valuable to the region's tourism and hospitality operators as they rebuild, diversify or innovate their businesses post-lockdown.
"Covid-19 has taught us the value of tourism to our community, not just in terms of employment and business, but also for its investment in regional assets.
"In Hawke's Bay alone, around 6000 people have been either directly or indirectly employed by tourism and the industry was worth $688m to the local economy in the 12 months to February 2020," Saxton said.
"A vibrant visitor economy is a significant contributor to the many wonderful events, world-class restaurants, connectivity, facilities and experiences we all get to enjoy as locals."
But at the centre of the Budget is the $3.2 billion eight-week extension of the wage subsidy scheme.
From June 10, businesses that have suffered, or are expecting to suffer, a 50 per cent loss of revenue, will be eligible for the scheme's extension.
But Stewart Financial Group chief executive Nick Stewart said many businesses haven't seen a 50 per cent drop in revenue yet and sadly still might not survive.
"They can only dream of having margins and cash reserves at levels that would see a 50 per cent drop in revenue survivable," he said.
"It makes you wonder that given the wage subsidy scheme is only $3.2b of the programme why it couldn't have been announced in previous weeks."
Business Hawke's Bay CEO Carolyn Neville says the Budget is a great start in supporting businesses and keeping people in work. Photo / File
Business Hawke's Bay CEO Carolyn Neville said the Budget is a great start in supporting businesses and keeping people in work and she hopes for it to continue.
"We would hope that further funds could be applied strategically [for business] from the unallocated $20b, once the fuller economic impact of Covid-19 becomes known – both here at home and internationally."
She said the extension of the wage subsidy scheme will help businesses in a more targeted way, keeping people in work, while the $1.6b spent on retraining and redeployment will be important especially for the trades and apprenticeships which will support infrastructure projects.
Another big boost Neville said is the $19m allocated towards placing 10,000 people in primary sector jobs which she said will be positive for Hawke's Bay.
Stewart said locally businesses will be eager to see details on how $433m will be injected into regional environmental projects that are forecast to create 4000 jobs over the next five years.
He said time will tell what we can expect in Hawke's Bay as the details of the planned rollout of the Covid-19 recovery fund are released but that with the situation we have faced the road ahead is going to be difficult.
"The Prime Minister isn't wrong when she says that 'New Zealand is about to enter a very tough winter'."
