19 August 2020
All Members of Parliament
Parliament Buildings
Wellington 6160
Nationwide #DineOutHelpOut Campaign
Tomorrow the Restaurant Association of New Zealand is launching a nationwide campaign to seek support for our petition currently on the Parliament website. Our petition calls on the House of Representatives to urge the Government to provide targeted support for the hospitality industry through a home grown version of the UK’s current “Eat Out to Help Out” initiative.
Under the UK scheme, the Government foots the bill for 50 per cent of a meal eaten at a cafe, restaurant or pub from Monday to Wednesday until the end of August – it was used more than 10.5 million times in its first week. The home grown version of this initiative is called “Dine out to Help out”.
Despite contributing more than $11 billion to the economy and employing over 133,000 people nationwide, there has not been any targeted support for the hospitality industry through the pandemic to date.
As one of the final acts of the 52nd Parliament, I am asking all Members to get behind this campaign. You will see more of our #DineOutHelpOut campaign in the coming days: a show of support from Members of Parliament will be a much needed morale boost for the few thousand hospitality businesses across New Zealand trying to stay afloat during this uncertain time.
Ngā mihi nui,
Marisa Bidois
Tāhūhū Rangapū (Chief Executive)
Restaurant Association of New Zealand