Gift cards aren’t just a convenient checkout add-on. They’re one of the most underrated ways to drive revenue, reach new audiences, and stay top of mind with past guests.
For tours and attractions, they’re especially valuable. A well-timed gift card offer can boost cash flow during off-peak months, turn happy customers into repeat buyers, and give potential customers a low-friction way to try your experiences for the first time.
In this post, we’ll walk through 20 creative gift card promotion ideas designed specifically for tour and activity operators. These ideas can help you grow sales, build loyalty, and make gift cards a key part of your marketing strategy year-round.
What is a gift card marketing strategy?
A gift card marketing strategy is a focused approach to driving sales, customer engagement, and brand visibility using either digital gift cards or physical gift cards as key tools. It’s about using gift cards intentionally to attract potential customers, reward loyal customers, and re-engage your current customer base.
Done well, it’s a powerful tool in your marketing mix, especially during high-opportunity windows like the holiday season, when guests are looking for easy, no-fail presents.
For the business owner, gift card options open up a channel for consistent revenue and customer acquisition with minimal overhead. They’re also easy to promote through existing email marketing campaigns, customer communication platforms, or even bundled into referral programs that incentivize sharing.
A gift card strategy isn’t just reactive, though. It can be used proactively as part of a broader re-engagement campaign or even as a tool to smooth out cash flow during slower periods. Whether you’re a tour operator, a boutique owner, or a service-based brand, it’s one of the few marketing plays that helps you win on both sides: bringing in new faces while deepening customer relationships with those already in your orbit.
What are the benefits of gift cards for marketing?
Gift cards are one of the few promotions that feel like a win for everyone involved. Customers love them because they’re a flexible, convenient gift option. Business owners love them because they help drive revenue upfront and often lead to future purchases well beyond the card’s value.
The benefits of a well-executed gift card marketing campaign include:
- Increased cash flow, especially during seasonal slowdowns
- A simple way to attract potential customers who may not have discovered your brand otherwise
- Stronger relationships with loyal customers through targeted rewards and offers
- More repeat business, as many recipients spend more than the card amount
- Opportunities to support referral programs and reward sharing behavior
- Easy add-ons to email marketing campaigns and re-engagement campaigns
Whether you’re looking to drive last-minute sales during the holiday season or set up a long-term loyalty play, gift card options give you a flexible, high-ROI tactic that fits naturally into your broader customer engagement efforts.
20 gift card marketing ideas
Here are 20 creative gift card marketing ideas you can try out.
1. Buy One, Get One sale
Everyone loves a BOGO sale. In this case, you’d offer customers a free gift card for one they purchase. While this isn’t a promotion you would run every single day, it could be useful in driving sales during your slow season. A ski resort, for example, could run a BOGO sale during the summer, when its slopes are making any revenue.
As we can see in the example above, BOGO promotions encourage customers to make a purchase by offering them something extra. The Tie Bar spins the deal as a way to buy a gift card for a friend and receive something back for themselves, too. The business couples the deal with a feeling of urgency by telling customers it’s their “last chance” to snag one, giving them an extra push to buy one.
2. Limited-time offer
Run a time-limited promotion offering customers a discount or bonus gift card with their booking. Limited-time offers create a sense of urgency, making the customer feel like they need to act sooner rather than later to take advantage of a good deal. This could also be a great tactic during the slow season, when operators want to boost sales to make up for the lack of bookings.
3. Sell a gift card bundle
Offer customers a bundle of gift cards at a discounted price. For example, you may offer a bundle of two gift cards for 10% off. This encourages a bigger purchase and drives up your average order value, bringing your business more gift card revenue. This could be a great campaign to run during the holidays when your customers are looking for unique gift ideas for their loved ones.
4. Offer a tour discount when customers purchase gift cards
Drive more sales by offering a discounted tour or entrance ticket with the purchase of a gift card. For example, when customers purchase a gift card, they’ll get 10% off their next booking. Again, this could be a great tactic to drive sales during your low season. You can promote the campaign via email or social media by encouraging customers to buy a gift card now and use their discount at a later date when it makes the most sense for them.
5. Partner with local businesses
Reach out to local businesses like a cafe, museum, or another tour operator to see if they’re interested in selling a gift card bundle. Let’s say you have a cafe that you refer guests to before or after your tour. Together, the two of you could offer a bundle of gift cards to both establishments. You could even offer this bundle at a discount to encourage more sales. Now, you’ll not only be promoting your gift cards to your own customers but also to the cafe’s customers — it’s a win-win situation.
6. Work with influencers to showcase your gift cards
Partnering with an influencer in your niche can expose your company to a slew of new customers. Influencers have engaged audiences that trust their recommendations. You could invite an influencer on one of your tours and then have them promote the gift card after they showcase their experience on social media. You could even have them host a giveaway, in which they ask their followers to follow you to enter a raffle to win a gift card for your business.
7. Host a special sale to promote gift cards
If sales are particularly slow, you can generate some excitement around gift cards with a special event or sale. The sale would be centered on the gift cards themselves. You could tease it on social media and via email a couple of weeks before launching your gift cards at a discounted price — such as a Buy One, Get One kind of deal.
In the example above, a business offers 25% off a $100 gift card, meaning the customer can buy $100 worth of products for just $75. Even if a customer has no one to gift it to, they might take advantage of the deal and buy it for themselves.
8. Reward customers for referring a friend
Reward customers with a gift card for referring new customers to your business. Not only will this drive loyalty among existing customers — who will now use their gift card for a repeat visit — but it will also bring you new customers.
9. Run a holiday-themed promotion
Run a promotion around specific holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Christmas. You can also get creative with national “themed” days, such as “National Ice Skating Day” on January 1st. Jot down all the ones that make sense for your niche and plan promotions around them.
Sweetgreen, for example, created a gift card campaign for Valentine’s Day. The pink colors and love-themed messaging makes it clear that this is a holiday-specific deal, which makes it an appealing purchase for someone who’s partner is a fan of the brand.
10. Send customers a birthday discount
There’s no better way to show a customer you appreciate them than sending them a special gift on their birthday. In this case, you can send a gift card, or offer them a discount when they purchase one during their birthday month. This is a personalized promotion that will win your customers’ hearts and make them more loyal to your brand.
11. Celebrate your business anniversary
Every business anniversary calls for a celebration. Why not get your customers involved? This year, celebrate your business’s anniversary by offering customers a discounted gift card. For example, if your business is turning 7 years old, you can offer a 7% discount on your gift cards.
12. Run a social media giveaway
A giveaway is a great way to generate excitement around your gift cards. Giveaways generate a lot of engagement with your followers because they require them to complete a certain number of steps to enter.
For example, you’ll post a graphic announcing the giveaway on social media and ask followers to follow your profile, like the photo, and tag who they would like to share the experience with. Every time someone tags a friend, you’re gaining additional exposure. So a giveaway is a great way to not only generate buzz around your gift cards but can also help you engage a new audience.
Scheels promoted its gift cards through an Instagram giveaway in which the winner could win a gift card and a Stanley mug. The graphic has the words “Giveaway” right at the top so that viewers instantly know that this isn’t a typical Instagram post. The brand also does a great job explaining the instructions to enter, which are quite easy: Follow them and like the post.
13. Promote them in your newsletter
Add a call-to-action to buy a gift card in your next newsletter. Your newsletter subscribers are already familiar with your brand, and many of them may have already visited you. If they enjoyed the experience, they’ll be more inclined to purchase a gift card than someone who’s never heard of your company before. Now and then, don’t forget to promote your gift cards to your email list.
Ryanair sent its email list a Valentine’s Day-themed promotion that was geared toward last-minute shoppers. “It’s not too late to rescue Valentine’s” the brand says, appealing to customers that have yet to buy their significant others a gift. Ryanair knows that buying a flight is too much of a commitment. A gift card, however, can be the perfect gift for travel-lovers.
14. Personalize the experience of buying a gift card
Many times, someone buys a gift card because they’re not sure what else to get someone. And they might feel a bit guilty about this. However, if you personalize the gift-buying experience, you can help alleviate some of that guilt. For example, you can allow the buyer to add the recipient’s name and a short description in the gift card delivery email to make the gift feel more personal.
15. Early Bird special
For attractions and tour operators, the early bird pricing strategy can be the secret to selling out a tour or event. It can work just as well for gift cards, too. To implement this, you can offer a discount on gift cards purchased before a certain date. For example, “Buy a gift card for a river rafting tour before May 1st and receive 10% off!”
16. A package deal
When you first start selling gift cards, you’ll need to generate some buzz around them to get the news out. Offering a gift card when customers purchase a package deal that includes multiple tours is a great way to do that. For example, if a customer purchases a package that includes both a whale-watching tour and a kayaking tour, they’ll receive a $100 gift card for their next adventure.
17. Encourage social media sharing
Gift cards can also be used to encourage customers to talk about your brand. For example, you can offer a gift card for customers who share a photo or review of their tour on social media. You might say something like, “Share a photo of your experience on Instagram and tag us to receive a $25 gift card!” This will generate buzz around your tours and your gift cards.
18. Encourage repeat visits
Create a special gift card sale for customers who have booked a tour with your company in the past. For example, you can encourage them to book their second tour with you and receive a $25 gift card for their next tour.
19. A group discount
If your company hosts big private parties, family events, or corporate gatherings, you can create a group-specific gift card campaign. For example, you can offer a $50 gift card to customers who book a tour of five or more people.
20. Offer a gift card bonus
Encourage bigger gift card purchases by offering a bonus for customers who purchase one above a certain amount. For example, if a customer buys a gift card for $500 or more, they’ll receive a bonus $100 gift card.
Over the holidays, Pizzeria Beddia ran a gift card sale offering an extra $25 on $100 gift cards. This is a very appealing deal for the pizzeria’s fans, even if they’re buying a gift card for themselves. Who wouldn’t want $125 worth of their favorite pizza restaurant? The pizzeria successfully communicated the deal in a clean and simple email campaign that targeted customers that have visited the restaurant in the past.
***
By implementing creative gift card promotions — such as buy-one-get-one-free specials, package deals, or personalized birthday discounts — tour operators can differentiate themselves from their competitors and generate brand loyalty with their customers.
