Community gift cards with location and spending time controls to activate local night-time economies
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Why Leave Town (WLT) is Australia’s largest provider of closed-loop community gift card programs, partnering with more than 80 regional and rural communities to strengthen local economies. Our platform enables money to be locked into participating local businesses, ensuring funds stay circulating within the community.
WLT offers both physical and digital gift cards, with our system providing advanced control features designed specifically to support precinct activation and targeted economic outcomes.
This includes the ability to restrict card usage by:
• location (specific venues, precincts or business groups)
• day of the week
• time windows, including 6pm–6am to support night-time economy initiatives
• campaign periods for festivals, seasonal events or coordinated late-night trading
These controls allow councils, chambers, precinct coordinators and event organisers to design precise economic interventions—such as encouraging visitation after dark, supporting clusters of businesses, activating main streets during quieter periods, or extending the impact of major events.
Types of collaboration we are looking for:
• Partnerships with District Coordinators, Councils and Business Collectives seeking tools to activate their night-time economy
• Pilot programs testing evening-only or precinct-specific gift cards
• Inclusion in broader economic development, place-making or precinct revitalisation projects
• Collaboration on events, festivals, cultural programming or seasonal campaigns where controlled-use gift cards can incentivise visitation or extend dwell time
How WLT can support precincts:
• Provide a turnkey gift card platform already active in regional NSW and all across Australia
• Offer spend-control technology tailored to the goals of local night-time activation
• Supply reporting and economic impact metrics that help Councils and District Coordinators evaluate program outcomes
• Work alongside local business groups to increase participation and build capability
• Support marketing, onboarding and consumer-facing messaging where needed
We welcome conversations with precinct teams, councils, event organisers and creative producers interested in exploring innovative ways to drive evening visitation, support local businesses and strengthen regional economies.
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We have been providing communities with local physical cards since 2010. Photo courtesy of Why Leave Town Pty Ltd.
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Our digital solution Photo courtesy of Why Leave Town Pty Ltd.
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This page is managed by Why Leave Town.
We acknowledge that we live and work on Aboriginal land and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of First Nations Australians. We also acknowledge all of the traditional owners of the land in NSW, and pay respect to First Nations Elders, past and present.
