12 May 2020

Tourism Minister under fire as industry faces thousands of job losses

From Checkpoint, 5:07 pm on 12 May 2020

The Tourism Minister is under fire for not acting fast enough in response to Covid-19 impacts.

Tourism operators say hundreds of thousands more jobs could be lost while they wait for details of a support package to be announced in Thursday's Budget.

Frustration grew as industry leaders and Opposition MPs grilled Kelvin Davis at Tuesday's Epidemic Response Committee, questioning why support for them has not come sooner.

It comes as Winston Peters announced a $72.5 million emergency support package for racing, whilst thousands of tourism jobs have already been cut and some of the biggest names in the industry remain in hibernation.

Tourism reporter Tess Brunton has the details.