The Government has recently announced the second round of the Regional Events Promotion Fund of up to $2.45 million to support the promotion of events to the domestic market outside of the peak summer period.
As the Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) for the Taupō region, Destination Great Lake Taupō (DGLT) will be administering the fund here and will be responsible for applying for the funding.
Key criteria are:
- only ticketed events, or events that require registration are eligible.
- the funding is for spending on promotional costs only, and can only be for 50% of the cost of these costs (the remainder to be funded by the event organiser).
- the event must be targeting increased domestic attendees, from out of district.
- the application form requires that the event organiser identify how much money was spent in the previous year if it is a recurring event.
- The application requires that the event demonstrate the benefits of the funding in spend, visitor numbers and ROI.
- The event organiser will need to sign an agreement with DGLT to receive the funding, which will include the requirement to report on:
- business plan and P&L
- destination marketing activity
- total attendees
- sales figures
- assessment of additional attendees and spend as a result of the funding
- full event assessment including media benefits, social outcomes, environmental assessment.
The second year of the funding round is for events taking place between 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026. The funding round closes on Wednesday 16 April 2025. There is a limit to the funding that each RTO can apply for and applications are subject to an approval process by MBIE.
If you are interested in pursuing we need the following information from you:
Step 1:
Confirmation that you are keen to apply for the funding.
Step 2:
Complete the application form, including projected promotional budget for your next event – deadline 5pm Wed 16 April 2025.
Step 3:
DGLT applies for the funding and sets up agreements with the successful recipients including reporting requirements.
15% of the funds will be allocated to administration of the application and follow-up with MBIE.
This is an exciting opportunity to bring some extra funding to events for our region. As a new fund, there is some smoothing out of the process, and we are getting clarification regularly as questions arise.
For more information:
Patrick Dault
General Manager
Patrick@lovetaupo.com
+64 27 674 1897