Mental wellbeing support is being rolled out to five South Island communities most affected by the absence of international tourists, including Fiordland.

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash today announced details of how tourism operators and communities can access the $4.5 million support. 

It is part of the government’s $200 million Tourism Communities: Support, Recovery and Re-set Plan, announced in May, which also included $15 million for the Milford Opportunities Project.

"Agreements have now been put in place with District Health Boards in the lower South Island to deliver this crucial support to regional communities," Nash said.

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"The $4.5 million investment allows DHBs to provide support in Kaikōura (Canterbury DHB), Mackenzie District (South Canterbury DHB), Queenstown Lakes and Fiordland (Southern DHB), and Westland (West Coast DHB).

"The DHBs will provide a range of mental well-being services and initiatives at a local level. They will work with communities to decide what’s needed and how it’s delivered.

"Businesses, workers and their families in our tourism destinations are facing challenges from border closures designed to keep New Zealand safe. 

"The support in the Tourism Communities Plan allows decisions about wellbeing resources and services to be made by those at the heart of the communities themselves." 

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Nash also said work on further business support initiatives in the five communities is progressing, and more information about eligibility criteria is available on the Tourism Recovery section of the MBIE website.

Southern DHB will receive $3 million of the funding, spread over two years.

SDHB Mental Health Director of Allied Health, Adell Cox, welcomed the funding, which will fast-track some initiatives.

"It has been a very tough 12 months for industries and communities that depend on travellers, and for our international residents who are far from their families and friends and may be witnessing very tragic effects of the pandemic from afar," Cox says.

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"In the past year, we’ve worked closely with agencies and affected communities, and have a good sense of what’s needed to help. In particular, we see opportunities to support our business communities, new parents, migrant communities, young people and some of our older population."

  The Milford Opportunities masterplan is to be launched in Te Anau on Wednesday, 28 July.

Project governance group chair Dr Keith Turner said it is really exciting to be able to present the masterplan to the public after nearly three years of work and engagement with stakeholders and the public.

"This masterplan is innovative, challenging, and is looking to the future of not only Milford Sound Piopiotahi but also the Milford corridor, Te Anau and the surrounding regions," Dr Turner said.

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"I am very proud of the results and of the recommendations the masterplan makes. It is fantastic that Government has given Milford Opportunities $15 million to take this forward into implementation and all the detailed business cases and work that surrounds a project like this."

The Milford Opportunities Project was set up to manage growing visitor numbers in Milford Sound Piopiotahi, while ensuring all visitors were still having a quality experience.

The initiative aims to uphold conservation values, reflect the unique nature of the place and provide greater benefit for local businesses and wider Southland. It looks at the broader Milford experience (not just the activities in Milford Sound Piopiotahi) to create opportunities for Te Anau, Southland and New Zealand.

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Southland development agency Great South is working with on the business support initiatives, mentioned above by Nash.

Across the five regions, they include:

• $10 million Business Advisory Support fund (up to $5,000 per business) to enable businesses to receive expert advice and support such as changing target market, or scaling their business.
• $10 million in grants for businesses to implement business advice (up to $5,000 per business).
• $49 million Tourism Kick-start Fund, to contribute towards existing tourism businesses scaling back up for the return of international visitors. The grant will be calculated based on two weeks of pre-COVID revenue set at two weeks of average revenue for 2019.