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| Hospitality Magazine column Election ‘08 What can or will Election 2008 do for the hospitality industry? For many simply getting a clean result and the election being over will be a positive outcome. The current uncertainty is holding back investment decisions and discretionary spending. The bigger picture however is the issues. What are the key issues that the industry and our patrons should be focussing on? There are lots of issues and legislation which impacts on hospitality – employment legislation, liquor legislation, gaming legislations, food safety, immigration – and much more. Some of these issues are a conscience matter, meaning that the political parties will not have a position on them. Indeed it is probably better that conscience issues are not given high profile in this election, otherwise respective members of parliament may be provoked in to making unhelpful statements, which they then become committed to post election. For the hospitality industry, and certainly for its patrons, the most significant issue is that of income tax. The hospitality industry relies on capturing the available discretionary spend. With a tightening economy and increases in fuel and food prices, discretionary spend has been diminished. This has had an impact on trading with most operators reporting trading being patchy at best. The timing, quantity and regularity of tax cuts is therefore the issue that hospitality operators should be focussing on. They should also be discussing these with their patrons to make sure their patrons understand which party will deliver the best result for them as individual New Zealanders and as consequence deliver the best result for hospitality. On the other issues facing hospitality now is the time to talk them up with the political candidates of all parties. This is one of the few times they might actually listen to what industry has to say. Hospitality operators can make a difference, not only do they have one vote, they have the ability to significantly influence the voting of the many New Zealanders they interact with every day. Bruce H Robertson |
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