What is the Points & Rewards Feature?

The Points & Rewards feature in Driftscape is a gamified exploration program that encourages visitors to discover locations throughout a community.

Visitors earn points when they visit participating locations featured in the Driftscape app. As they collect points, they can redeem them for rewards once they reach a defined threshold, set by your organization.

This creates a fun incentive for users to explore more places while helping communities highlight businesses, attractions, and points of interest.

How Points & Rewards Works

At a high level, the program creates a community-wide exploration experience inside the Driftscape app.

Visitors discover featured locations and are encouraged to visit them in person to collect points. As they explore more locations, they accumulate points that can later be redeemed for rewards.

Driftscape handles the point tracking and redemption system automatically, allowing organizations to focus on the experience and the rewards being offered.

For example, a tourism organization could create a “Downtown Discovery Challenge” where visitors earn points by visiting participating restaurants, shops, and attractions throughout the city. After collecting enough points by exploring several locations, visitors can redeem them for rewards such as branded merchandise, gift cards, or local prizes.

The Visitor Experience

A typical visitor journey looks like this:

1. A visitor opens the Driftscape app and sees locations that are part of the Points & Rewards program.

2. When they view or visit a participating location, they collect points through the app.

3. As they explore more places, they continue earning points.

4. Once they reach the required number of points, they can redeem them for a reward.

5. During redemption, the visitor provides their information so the reward can be delivered.

This experience encourages users to explore multiple locations across a community rather than visiting just one destination.

What Driftscape Handles Automatically

Driftscape manages the technical side of the program, including:

• Verifying that visitors are physically on location before awarding points

• Tracking each visitor’s point balance

• Displaying available rewards in the app

• Collecting contact details when a reward is redeemed

• Recording each redemption and notifying the organization by email

This automation allows organizations to run a gamified exploration program without needing to manage the technology behind it.

What Organizations Manage

Organizations running a Points & Rewards campaign are responsible for designing the experience.

Typical responsibilities include:

• Selecting which locations award points

• Setting how many points each location provides

• Choosing the rewards available to users

• Defining reward value (how many points are required to redeem a reward)

• Managing reward fulfillment when visitors redeem their points

This gives organizations full flexibility to design a program that fits their goals.

How Does this Help Businesses?

By setting local businesses as locations that award points, your organization is immediately driving foot traffic to their location.  Along with this, chat with local businesses about rewards they can offer in exchange for larger features within the app.  For example, a local coffee shop could offer a free hot beverage as one reward. In exchange your organization could set their location to provide more points than those that don't offer a reward, or you could feature them inside your Driftscape custom menu.  The options here are endless.

In summary, the points and rewards program directly helps businesses by:

• Increasing visibility in the Driftscape app

• Inclusion in a community-wide exploration campaign

• Incentives that encourage visitors to discover their location

• Increased foot traffic and engagement with users

Common Use Cases

Organizations use Points & Rewards in many different ways depending on their goals. Because the system encourages visitors to explore multiple locations, it is particularly effective for programs designed to increase discovery, foot traffic, and engagement across a community.

Below are several common ways organizations implement Points & Rewards campaigns.

Tourism Campaigns

Tourism organizations often use Points & Rewards to encourage visitors to explore multiple attractions across a region instead of just one destination.

For example, a tourism board might create an “Explore the Region” challenge that awards points when visitors stop at museums, scenic viewpoints, historic landmarks, parks, and visitor centres. As visitors travel throughout the region and collect points at each location, they move closer to earning a reward.

This type of campaign helps visitors discover hidden gems they may not have otherwise visited, while also encouraging longer stays and broader exploration of the area.

Points & Rewards is particularly effective for:

• Regional tourism trails

• Scenic driving routes

• Cultural or heritage tours

• Outdoor recreation experiences

• Multi-day visitor itineraries

Business Discovery Programs

Business Improvement Areas (BIAs), downtown associations, and chambers of commerce commonly use Points & Rewards to drive foot traffic to local businesses.

In these campaigns, participating businesses are featured as locations where visitors can collect points simply by visiting. Visitors are motivated to explore multiple shops, restaurants, and markets in order to accumulate points and redeem rewards.

For example, a downtown association might run a “Shop the District” challenge where visitors earn points by visiting different local retailers. After visiting several participating businesses, visitors can redeem their points for prizes such as gift cards, branded merchandise, or entry into a larger prize draw.

These programs help:

• Increase visibility for local businesses

• Encourage visitors to explore new shops and restaurants

• Support small business discovery

• Strengthen engagement in commercial districts\

Seasonal Promotions

Many organizations use Points & Rewards to create seasonal experiences that align with events or holidays.

Because the system encourages visitors to collect points at multiple locations, it works particularly well for themed trails and limited-time promotions.

Examples include:

• Holiday shopping trails where visitors collect points at decorated storefronts

• Summer exploration challenges encouraging visits to parks, beaches, and outdoor attractions

• Festival activations where visitors collect points across event venues

• Fall harvest trails featuring farms, markets, and seasonal attractions

These campaigns help organizations build excitement around seasonal events while encouraging visitors to experience more of the community.

Community Engagement

Points & Rewards can also support initiatives designed to encourage residents and visitors to engage more deeply with their community.

Organizations often use the feature to highlight cultural spaces, public amenities, local programs, and civic initiatives. Visitors are rewarded for exploring places they might not normally visit.

For example, a municipality could launch a “Discover Your City” campaign that encourages residents to visit community centres, libraries, art installations, parks, and local landmarks. As participants explore these locations and collect points, they learn more about the services and experiences available in their community.

These campaigns are particularly useful for:

• Community discovery programs

• Cultural and heritage awareness initiatives

• Public space engagement

• Municipal programming promotion

• Encouraging residents to rediscover their city

Why Communities Use Points & Rewards

Points & Rewards creates a shared experience across multiple locations, which helps:

• Encourage exploration of the entire community

• Promote local businesses and attractions

• Increase visitor engagement within the app

• Turn exploration into a fun, reward-driven activity

By combining location-based exploration with incentives, communities can motivate visitors to discover more of what their region has to offer.

Related Articles

Points and Rewards Overview 

Implementing Points and Rewards 

Testing Points and Rewards