The NSW Government’s Dine & Discover NSW initiative has been extended by 10 months, with the vouchers now due to expire on 30 June 2022.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said the extension gives Central Coast residents more time to redeem their hundreds of thousands of ‘unspent’ vouchers.
“A total of 314,358 vouchers have been redeemed by Central Coast residents since the vouchers first became available in February. To date, these vouchers have injected almost $8 million into local businesses,” Mr Crouch said.
“Central Coast residents still possess a total of 539,426 unredeemed vouchers, and it’s fantastic that everyone now has extra time to ‘spend’ them on a range of hospitality and tourism activities when the COVID-19 lockdown ends.”
Earlier this year, every adult in NSW was offered two $25 ‘dine’ vouchers to use at restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs and clubs and two $25 ‘discover NSW’ vouchers to be used at cultural institutions, live music and arts venues.
More than two thirds of adults in NSW signed up for Dine & Discover NSW, including 213,446 on the Central Coast.
Mr Crouch said the vouchers would help local businesses bounce back more quickly when the COVID-19 lockdown ends.
“Dine & Discover NSW is targeted stimulus because it encourages people to increase their spending. So far we’ve observed that customers spend an average of $41 for every $25 ‘dine’ voucher used,” Mr Crouch said.
“Whether it’s a café, restaurant, cinema or gallery, every industry continues to be hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown and these vouchers will encourage more customers to come through the doors of local businesses as soon as they’re allowed to reopen.”