Peterborough County has launched an economic development program for the holidays called “Holiday Magic”.
More than fifty business across the region have signed up to participate in this pro-gram, where visitors rack up points through a digital pass-port downloaded onto cellphones through an app. The idea is to encourage people to visit and shop in the Kawarthas by rewarding them with points that make them eligible for prizes provided by the participating businesses. The app is similar to the popular virtual game, Pokemon go! This is the second feature experience created by the county as a fun, interactive activity designed to highlight the people, businesses, places and stories that define the Kawarthas. There is no purchase required.
The program begins by downloading the app either by scanning a QR code ( on the ad on page 8) or by downloading it from the Peterborough County website. To collect points, visitors must be within 100m of a participating location and submit a password provided by the business. Participating locations are identified by snowflake images on a map of the County. Visitors to each location can tap the map and collect points- one for each location and two if the visit occurs during a specific event, such as Millbrook’s Christmas in the Village. When visitors have accumulated ten points, they can be redeemed on the app by tapping “Get Rewards”, where contact information is submitted and users become eligible for a weekly prize of a gift certificate from one of the participants. Ballots are also used to select the winner of the grand prize which is gift certificate with a value of $1500 who will be selected by a draw on January 7th. Local business participants include the 4th Line Theatre, Moody’s the Village Apothecary, Dusk to Dawn, REVIVE, Blank Canvas, Millbrook Mercantile and Mitchells/Millbrook Valley Chocolates.
The program runs until December 24th, and the deadline to submit ballots is December 31st. The objective of the program is to encourage holiday spending close to home where it supports our shops and businesses.