Tourism Sarnia-Lambton is re-launching its popular gift card program in 2023 following the success of the past two years.
Residents can buy $10, $25 or $50 cards which can be redeemed at over 300 local businesses.
All of the proceeds support those in the restaurant, retail, attraction and accommodation tourism sectors.
Executive Director Mark Perrin said businesses still haven't fully recovered from the pandemic, but things are definitely improving.
"Reopening does not mean recovery," said Perrin. "We still have labour shortages and some inflation issues that we're dealing with throughout the tourism industry. So, this is just another way to help support the economy and kind of take the burden off some of the labour and inflation that's still recovering from the pandemic."
Perrin said the turnaround has been due in part to the reopening of the Canada-U.S. border and the easing of restrictions. He said projections indicate that the tourism industry could be back to pre-pandemic numbers by 2024 or 2025.
In 2021 and 2022, residents purchased $360,000 in cards, creating an estimated economic impact of over $2.5 million for the local community.
Perrin said unused cards can still be redeemed next year.
Gift cards can be purchased in person at Tourism Sarnia-Lambton at 1455 Venetian Blvd in Point Edward, or online at www.discoversarnialambton.com.
