News and Issues

While the global events industry has faced unprecedented challenges through 2020, New Zealand events organisers, venues and the entire supply chain  are positioned for a strong comeback, with pent-up demand, resurgent consumer spending, and a population eager to get out and about after the tough months of lockdown.

Long weekend events, play your part!

New Zealanders will be travelling far and wide this long weekend, if you're running an event you have a role to play in keeping your attendees, crew and New Zealand safe. 

The Event Sector Voluntary Code, developed by New Zealand Major Events at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) with inputs from the Events Sector Association has recently been updated.

Today's alert level update.

As per this afternoon's announcement, the current alert level settings will be maintained nationwide for another week.

• Auckland's level 2.5 setting will be reviewed next Monday 21 September with a view to increase limits on social gatherings (distinct from controlled events) from Wednesday 23 September, provided case numbers track as expected.
• The rest of New Zealand will remain at level 2 with a view to move to level 1 at 11:59 on Monday 21 September, also contingent on case numbers. 

Controlled events may take place with multiple groups of 100 in Auckland, and the rest of New Zealand, provided they are clearly separated into 'defined spaces'. The person in control of the defined spaces must have systems in place to ensure that the separate gatherings do not intermingle.

For full details please see the COVID-19 website and also the New Zealand Major Events website (please note if there is any contradiction between the two websites, the COVID-19 website applies).

In the meantime, we continue to advocate for our four pillars of action as per our latest media release.

Thanks again to all who participated in our latest industry survey issued alongside CINZ, EVANZ, ETNZ & NZPA, thanks also to Eventfinda and AuSAE who reached out to their audiences.

The events industry has seen 20,000 events cancelled or postponed as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents 50% of all events planned for 2020 according to a recent joint survey by New Zealand’s event associations.

Together, let's take further action for our events sector! 

Further this afternoon's announcement on alert levels, we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to provide us with an update on where your organisation is at and what your future needs may be in this latest 'Taking the pulse' survey.

With today's shift in alert levels, our thoughts are with those event professionals whose events have been cancelled, and those who need to activate contingency plans at short notice. We certainly hope this rise in alert levels is short lived, and the events industry can continue with it's recovery.

In case you missed the exciting news on our social channels over the weekend, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced on Saturday a $50 million Regional Events Fund as part of the $400 million Tourism Recovery Package.

Further to yesterday's update, the Domestic Events Fund is now open for applications! We strongly encourage you to apply to this fund as soon as possible.

Together, we have taken action for our events sector!

Further to our last update of 19 June, we had our second meeting yesterday with the Minister for Economic Development, Hon Phil Twyford along with other industry representatives as part of the ‘Event Sector Recovery Roadmap’.

First of all, thank you to the 180 organisations who contributed to our third COVID-19 industry impact survey closing this week:

Meeting with Minister Twyford scheduled
We are pleased to confirm that we that we have just been invited for another meeting with the Minister for Economic Development to discuss the ‘Event Sector Recovery Roadmap’ on Wednesday 24 June.

Further to Monday's announcement of the Alert Level 2 guidelines, we asked MBIE for a distinction between social gatherings and professionally organised events as the two are very different in terms of risk.

While today's budget announcement was not quite what we had expected for the sector, there was a beacon of hope in the comments made in parliament by the Prime Minister and Minister Robertson with mention of a recovery fund related to events to follow in the coming days ... so we believe we are moving in the right direction!

Together we have taken action for our events sector!

Thank you to all of you who submitted feedback on our proposed sector survival strategy last week.

Further to our update last Friday, the Minister for Economic Development, Hon Phil Twyford, has invited us to work with him over the coming month to create a COVID-19 'sector survival strategy' to progress our discussions of targeted support for the New Zealand events sector.

Taking further action for our events sector

Further to our update on Wednesday, the NZEA is pleased to say that we have had a positive first meeting with the Minister for Economic Development Hon Phil Twyford yesterday (also joined by EVANZ and CINZ representatives).

Taking further action for our events sector

On our second day at alert level 3, and following an ANZAC weekend with no official commemorations, we certainly hope we remain on track to see a resurgence of event activity in the coming weeks and months.

The Commission has released some guidance for businesses and consumers on consumers’ rights and businesses’ obligations for cancelled services and events.

Event organisers, suppliers, venues and artists in New Zealand are among those in a fight for survival with the global coronavirus pandemic causing a 100 per cent loss in activities and revenue, even before the country’s alert level 4 lockdown came into effect.

Event organisers, suppliers, venues and artists are among those within New Zealand’s substantial events sector that have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

Further to yesterday's announcement that all indoor and outdoor events over 500 people should be cancelled, the Government has today unveiled a $12.1b economic response package to combat the COVID-19 impact with almost half of the cash to be spent on a wage subsidy package for all coronavirus-impacted businesses.

The New Zealand events sector is increasingly concerned about the impact of COVID-19 following the weekend's announcement of stricter border controls, and the promise of further announcements to come regarding public gatherings.

NZEA is working closely with central government in order to assess the impact of the COVID-19 situation and what kind of sector support may be required.

In that regard, we'd appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete this survey so we can get a sense of COVID-19's impact on the events sector to date and share these insights with the government.

Following last week's industry update on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we have some additional resources for the events industry to assist with planning and risk management for your events.

As the Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation develops, our country is feeling the impacts in terms of supply chain issues and travel restrictions. As of today, there is one confirmed case of the virus in New Zealand and the situation continues to evolve fast worldwide.

We therefore encourage you to stay informed and take some time to assess and plan for impacts on your events and business.

NZEA New Zealand Event Awards Finalists: Packed calendar delivers superior quality Event Awards Finalists

The announcement of the 2019 season finalists for the annual New Zealand Events Association (NZEA) New Zealand Event Awards highlights the superior quality of the events that keep the country and the world entertained.

We all know event workers often do crazy hours but with the risk of an incident occurring and it being found that the event member had worked 12 hours straight, it could easily come back to the employer and whether they provided appropriate breaks and support for the team member.

"Section 12 of the Misuse of Drugs Act makes it a crime to knowingly permit a venue to be used for drug use, which means festival testing operates in a legal grey area"

The NZEA New Zealand Events Awards opens today for all 2019 applications as it looks to celebrate another year of success and innovation in a dynamic industry.

In January, the NZEA provided feedback to Government on behalf of the events industry on the Aotearoa New Zealand Government Tourism Strategy.

The tourism Industry has launched a three-year package designed to improve perceptions of tourism careers, make it easier for young people to experience tourism careers with placements and open days, and ensure a positive experience for those in tourism employment.

Ticket scalping is a hot topic for both our industry professionals and the ticket-buying public. The Government is seeking feedback on a discussion paper to address ticket reselling issues.

Ticket scalping is a hot topic for both our industry professionals and the ticket-buying public. The Government is seeking feedback on a discussion paper to address ticket reselling issues.

If there’s one thing we do well in this country, it’s putting on events by their thousand, from Invercargill through to Cape Reinga. With the quality and number of events entered into the New Zealand Events Awards 2018, judges were hard pressed to pick winners – but they’ve done just that.

Last month, NZEA provided feedback to Government on behalf of the events industry on the Aotearoa New Zealand Government Tourism Strategy.

The New Zealand Events Association (NZEA) is seeking expressions of interest to join our Board to help achieve our vision of providing leadership and representation to inspire a world class events industry in NZ.

The New Zealand Event Awards finalists for 2018 were announced today by the New Zealand Events Association.

The NZEA Events Awards open today for all 2018 applications as they look to celebrate another amazing year of success and innovation in a dynamic industry.

It’s been a bumper year for events in New Zealand. That’s apparent in the winners of the flourishing New Zealand Awards, announced last night at a glittering ceremony held at SKYCITY.

New Zealand Event Awards Finalists for 2017 were announced today by the New Zealand Events Association.

The 2017 New Zealand Event Awards tickets are on sale now, so get in quick!

Entries open for the 2017 NZ Event Awards!

A practical guide to meeting your obligations under the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA).

NZAEP are thrilled to congratulate the deserving winners of the 2016 New Zealand Event Awards.

NZAEP's guide to the new legislation.