West Coast tourism businesses struggling because of the pandemic, have started receiving money to help them retain staff - and convert their jobs into conservation ones.
Franz Josef. Photo: Supplied / Scenic Hotel Group
Tourist towns around the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers are still among the hardest hit in Aotearoa, and many of their businesses are in dire straits.
The $5 million business support fund is designed to tide them over, and the trust, Development West Coast, has started distributing payments.
The trust is part of an alliance of local groups and councils formed to respond to the impact of Covid-19 on the community.
The alliance's chairperson Mike Meehan said the money was being used to create 214 nature-based jobs.
