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Hospitality New Zealand (Hospitality NZ) has welcomed the Ministry for Regulation’s Hospitality Sector Review as an important step towards making it easier and cheaper to open and run a hospitality business.
Better regulation of the hospitality sector (the Review) has been released today and includes 24 recommendations to improve the regulation of the hospitality sector.
Kristy Phillips, Hospitality NZ chief executive says, “One of the most important outcomes from the first Hospitality Summit held in late 2024 was agreement across the sector on the need for a regulatory review.
“Hospitality businesses navigate a great deal of regulation every day, and this has held many of these businesses back from reaching their full potential. Conducting a review that looks closely at where the system can be simpler, more efficient and less costly for operators is something we welcome.”
The Review focuses on the specific areas of regulation where changes would make the most impact for the hospitality sector: alcohol licensing, food safety, fees and levies, and information flows between regulators and regulated parties.
Kristy says, “The Review reflects concerns we have highlighted through both our involvement in the review and the views expressed in the two Hospitality Summit reports released to date.
“In particular, consistency in decision making is an important principle for hospitality businesses that are working with regulators.
“The release of the Review is an important step in the right direction for hospitality. If implemented, we believe the recommendations will help improve certainty for hospitality businesses, and support better growth and investment decisions.
“The next step is turning these recommendations into tangible changes that will best support our industry.
“Hospitality NZ thanks the Ministry for Regulation for their work and engagement on the review, and looks forward to working with the Government, officials and the wider hospitality sector to create a more stream-lined regulatory environment that will help hospitality businesses thrive.”
