Southern Lakes Regional Events Funding

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• About the Southern Lakes Regional Events Fund

• Southern Lakes Regional Events Fund Executive Summary

• Fund Foundation Principles

• Timeframe for Applications

About the Southern Lakes Regional Events Fund

THE PURPOSE OF THE REGIONAL EVENTS FUND IS TO STIMULATE DOMESTIC INTER AND INTRA-REGIONAL VISITATION THROUGH FUNDING EVENTS THAT WILL ENCOURAGE EXPENDITURE MISSED BY INTERNATIONAL VISITOR MARKETS.

Reference: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/immigration-and-tourism/tourism/tourism-recovery/regional-events-fund/

The fund is available to the nine International Marketing Alliance (IMA) groupings of the Regional Tourism Organisations (RTO’s). The Southern Lakes IMA (Queenstown, Wanaka, Central Otago & Fiordland) have been allocated $8.5million over a 2-4-year timeframe, commencing in 2021. This fund has been allocated and is now closed.  

Destination Fiordland’s portion of the fund ($850,000) has been allocated as a separate amount, while the Queenstown, Wanaka and Central Otago allocation will remain pooled at $7,650,000, to be invested via bi-annual contestable funding rounds.

Southern Lakes Regional Events Fund Executive Summary

The key focus of the Southern Lakes Events Investment Panel (SLEIP) will be to ensure that those events funded from the Regional Events Fund maximise economic benefit to the region, optimise the regions assets and venues, replace the current lack of sponsorship and drive out-of-region, non-competing domestic visitation to help compensate for some of the shortfall created by lack of international visitors. This supports the immediate goal of supporting the wider business community in the region while supporting local event operators and suppliers that have felt the full impact of border closures during 2020 and beyond.

It also aligns with longer term strategic goals to develop the region as an event friendly destination that encourages and supports the development of a balanced portfolio of events that reinforce the key economic, community and strategic directions of the region.

Success will be measured via economic, social and sustainability criteria with weighting towards the economic benefit that events bring, to replace the loss of international visitation to the Southern Lakes region.

Fund Foundation Principles

The Foundation Principles of the fund include prioritising events that;

• Drive out of region visitation
• Bring measurable economic benefit to the region
• Collaborate with, but do not compete with other regional or large national events
• Compliment a regional calendar of events that is well-balanced to create year-round stimulation
• Offer leverage opportunities to local business
• Engage the local workforce
• Demonstrate community and social licence
• Demonstrate a prospect for enduring legacy and stability
• Utilise current regional infrastructure
• Use 50% local suppliers
• Demonstrate strategies to mitigate, reduce and offset carbon footprints.

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This is a contestable fund. Refer to the following timeline for funding rounds. If you have any questions about the Southern Lakes Regional Events Fund, please contact the Southern Lakes Events Manager, Catherine Fallon.