The Events Association is pleading for Government support with mass gatherings set to be limited to 100 people under alert level 2.
More than 14,000 events have been cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis and the sector says it feels sidelined by the Government.
Events Association general manager Segolene de Fontenay says they know they can roll out a solid plan.
"It's been a long journey. The events sector's been hurting pretty much since the beginning of March," she told The AM Show on Monday.
"Those guys have been waiting, waiting, waiting."
She said last week's announcement by the Government of what alert level 2 would look like, including the 100 people restriction on mass gatherings, came as a surprise.
"It was [a] shock, rather, to the sector," she said.
"There are a lot of event organisers very unhappy and quite rightly because they're really nervous about their future.
"They've been hanging around hoping they can get back to some sort of business as usual but clearly it hasn't happened."
De Fontenay told The AM Show the sector is in desperate need of funding.
"For us, this is really reiterating the need for urgent, immediate, targeted Government support.
"That's part of what we call a survival strategy."
Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed no congregations of more than 100 people would be allowed under alert level 2. A decision on when New Zealand might move there is expected on Monday afternoon.
The Government has warned Kiwis to not think of alert level 2, when the country does move there, as "life as normal".
Measures such as physical distancing, hygiene standards, and contact registers will remain in place under alert level 2.
