Galway gift card to help people shop local this Christmas

A new gift card specifically for Galway is to be rolled out in the run-up to Christmas in order to encourage local people to spend their money in the city and wider county.

The Love Galway/Grá do Ghaillimh gift card is a collaboration between Galway Chamber, Galway City Council and Galway County Council, is hoping to tap into a desire among many to shop locally

All types and sizes of customer facing businesses including retail, hospitality, leisure, accommodation, health and beauty, and services are being encouraged to sign up to the scheme which uses technology supported by Mastercard backed so no additional equipment required.

Once launched, the Love Galway card will be commission free for registered businesses and come in both a physical and virtual format.

The initiative is part of the Town & City Gift Card set up which is running across Ireland with over €17 million worth of cards sold last year with around 3000 businesses aligned to such initiatives across Ireland.

“The popularity of gift cards is growing, as is the desire to shop local,” said the chief executive of the Galway Chamber Karen Ronan. “We’ve seen the power of local gift cards across Ireland to tap into these trends and generate millions for their business communities each year. We’re building on brand Galway with our own gift card so we can direct spend to Galway businesses.”

The mayor of Galway City, Helen Ogbu, said the card was one of several initiatives developed to encourage people to spend their money in their local community.

“Galway has a wealth of unique independent businesses across the city, and having our own gift card will be a huge opportunity for businesses across a range of sectors to drive business through their door, ring-fencing gift card spend into our local economy,” she said.

The cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, Andrew Reddington echoed that and suggested that the wider county including Connemara and the islands in Galway Bay were “among the most recognisable parts of Ireland, and we are lucky to have such a great range of towns and villages, with excellent local shops, restaurants, boutiques and businesse.”

He said that as Christmas approached he would encourage “all customer-facing businesses across the county to register to accept the Love Galway/Grá do Ghaillimh gift card. It is a great opportunity for businesses to attract new customers, increase overall footfall and encourage more people to shop locally.”