Temporary hospo awards to become permanent fixture

Friday, 11 April 2025

The Welly Hospo Awards - a locally organised awards event for the capital’s hospitality scene - will continue on an annual basis, after stepping in to replace the Felix Wellington Hospitality Awards in 2024.

The national association that champions restaurants has decided to no longer organise the awards for local hospo businesses, a move that’s been described as good by some but also as disheartening.

“I think it's good that it's being led by people in the community … because we have such a good understanding of Wellington,” said Erin Lawton-McKenzie from the local Welly Hospo Awards.

The Felix Wellington Hospitality Awards, which had been running since 1998, were canned last year as a number of notable eateries, including Concord, Hiakai, and Field and Green closed their doors.

Graze Wine Bar co-owners Max Gordy says he thinks it is good the capital has hospo awards run by locals. (File photo)

Instead, the Welly Hospo Awards were pulled together by the region’s hospitality leaders in December as a way to celebrate the industry’s success stories.

They will now be run on an annual basis. Other regions will also be organising their own awards, include Hawkes Bay, Canterbury, and Bay of Plenty.

Lawton-McKenzie said she and other organisers were excited with the move.

“Last year, we really rushed it together in six weeks because the Felix Awards had been cancelled, and we were just so empowered to do something.

After nine years of serving Wellington, Egmont St Deli & Diner is closing its doors, yet another indicator of the constant blows hitting the city’s hospitality industry.

“We had such a short time, but we think that - given a longer time frame now - it can be even better than it was.”

She said the response to the Welly Hospo Awards last year had been “super positive,” especially following so much “doom and gloom” in the industry.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said there had never been an intention to cancel the awards, just change the way they were delivered.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois, says the association will provide marketing and resources towards the event.

“Over the past year, it became clear that there was strong appetite from within the Wellington hospitality community to take more ownership of the awards.

“We’ve responded to that, and are fully supporting a locally led model that gives operators the ability to shape the event themselves, while the Restaurant Association continues as a lead sponsor and major supporter.”

Bidois said the response from Restaurant Association members had been overwhelmingly positive, with the shift to a locally led model coming directly from industry feedback.

“People wanted to be more hands on and involved in the awards. The awards were also never just for members, it has always been open to the full industry and continues to be that way going forward.”

After being asked on whether putting the task of organising the awards onto local industry leaders was fair, Bidois said the Restaurant Association understood times had been tough, which was why the shift to a “locally led model” made sense.

The association was still providing resources, marketing support, and national visibility, she said.

“Operators want to take the reins and shape an event that reflects their region and we support that.”

The Post also asked whether the association would be financially contributing to the Welly Hospo Awards in future.

Bidois said, as they were still finalising the financial model for the awards, there wasn’t a formal sponsorship agreement in place with the Welly Hospo Awards’ committee.

However, there was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in place which outlined that the Restaurant Association would provide marketing and resources towards the event, she said.

Industry leaders said they believed the shift to a locally led model was a positive thing.

Graze Wine Bar co-owner Max Gordy - who was on the last year’s awards committee and whose restaurant was named the winner of its category - said it was great to have an award ceremony put on by the Wellington hospitality community.

The Restaurant Association will be a key supporter and sponsor of the Welly Hospo Awards going forward. (File photo)

Margot co-owner Juno Miers - whose restaurant was nominated in the 2024 awards - was pleased the people who would be putting on the awards were close to the Wellington hospitality scene .

“I think it's a group of 11 people, some of them are restaurant owners and managers. Some of them are chefs … it's just all Wellington people, basically, who really are a little bit more intrinsically linked to our community.

“It just felt a little bit more intimate and special.”

However, a Wellington hospitality industry insider told The Post that the association had passed the effort of organising the “essential” event onto the local hospitality scene.

The person, who requested to remain anonymous due to fear of professional backlash, said with the hospitality industry going through an extremely tough time, it was important to celebrate hospo wins.

“When [The Felix Awards] were cancelled last year, it was really crushing. When it is so tough, it is essential to celebrate people doing well, because it's harder than ever.”

Because the Welly Hospo Awards had been so successful, the sting had been taken out of the loss of the Felix awards but it was still a loss, the insider said, with the effort and responsibility being handed over to local businesses.

“From what they’ve said the committee is made up of volunteers, so that is a lot of free labour.”

Alongside the prestige, winning a hospitality award also increased foot traffic for the cafes and restaurants, they said.

“These awards are essential to people's businesses.”

*CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story didn’t make clear that the Restaurant Association spokesperson was Marisa Bidois throughout the story. (Amended Friday April 11, 2025. 7.35am)