As the 2024 budget is announced, the Restaurant Association has voiced its suggestions for the coming year.
With the Government answering the Association’s call to include the hospitality portfolio in Ministerial ranks, there has been a marked increase of focus the government has given to hospitality. However, distinct challenges for the sector remain.
Members have reported that the cost of living crisis has hit the hospitality sector hard, with an evident downturn in customer numbers and a decreasing average spend per head.
“Despite the challenging operating environment nationwide, we remain hopeful that Budget 2024 will go some way in alleviating the pressures of the cost of living crisis, and improve operational settings for small businesses, so owner-operators can keep more of what they earn in their back pocket,” said Marisa Bidois, CEO of the Restaurant Association.
“What is most important to the hospitality industry right now is that Budget 2024 ensures our businesses are supported to ride out the economic shocks and recover from extreme weather events.”
In tune with budget asks of recent years, the Association has sought a Budget that will have a reduction in the cost of doing business and investment into initiatives that support the hospitality industry to grow. Key focus areas for the Association include:
- a clear roadmap for our immigration system that recognises the unique skills and pathways into the hospitality
- increased investment in industry-led training opportunities to grow a highly skilled domestic workforce, and
- greater promotion of New Zealand to the world as a place to work, study and travel.
The Restaurant Association added that an ever-changing regulatory environment has only added to the pressures the sector has experienced over the past few years.
“Anything the government can do to streamline the way that officials interface with business is a win in our books. We need the public sector to understand how our industry operates and that a one-size-fits-all approach to regulation does not fit with its nuances and needs.”
New Zealand has set itself apart on the international stage for its culinary excellence and diversity. Our priority as an industry is to nurture that reputation, and help to ensure tourism and hospitality can once again be the largest export earner for our country.
"We’ve done it before, and we can certainly do it again."
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