A new program has been launched to encourage people to experience and explore businesses in Windsor.
The 40-40 Passport Program is a digital tourism passport that is linked to 40 unique businesses, restaurants, and shops across the city.
The program was developed by a team of Master of Business Administration students at the University of Windsor in partnership with the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel to promote cross-border travel and boost local tourism.
40-40 Project Lead Olivia Sylvestre says the digital passport provides an exclusive discount at participating businesses.
"You scan the QR code at a participating business, and then you earn entries into prize draws from our local grand prize sponsors. For every six businesses you visit, it's an entry into a draw. For every tour that you finish, it's an extra three entries," she says.
Sylvestre says this is about reinvigorating tourism.
"We have arts and culture, we have a couple of museums, we have vinyl shops, we have little small boutiques, and we have coffee shops where I frequent the most. I'm a student; I'm always there. We've got everything; we've got restaurants and pubs as well," she says. "Most of them are concentrated in the downtown core area, but they are scattered throughout Windsor. We have some in the Walkerville area and the Erie area. But a lot of them are concentrated downtown near the border."
"We would like to try and get the situation back to the 1980s and 90s. Realistically, every weekend was packed with American friends coming over and spending money and time here; we'd like to get that back," he says. "We used to do 20,000 visitors a day through the tunnel: now we're around 11,000 or 12,000. It would be nice to reinvigorate our city."
Officials will also promote the free program to Detroit residents.
Click here to sign up for the 40-40 Passport Program.
The campaign will run until July 31.