A government gift card scheme is set to come to an end in July 2024.

All new LoveIOM card sales have ended and existing cardholders have a year to spend their balances with the 69 different local merchants that signed up.

The scheme was launched in November 2021 by the Economic Strategy Board to try and boost the hospitality sector after Covid, with 5,430 cards sold since then.

It’s resulted in more than £220,000 being loaded onto the cards to be spent into the local economy.

More than £64,000 in remaining value is still to be spent on the cards.

Government spent £200,000 of taxpayers’ money building the gift card platform and £14,000 incentivising spending through the scheme.

Overall it had £500,000 pounds of funding allocated to it.

The government has said the LoveIOM gift card scheme was a success.

Enterprise Minister Tim Johnston said: ‘As with other Covid recovery projects, the time has come for this scheme to conclude.

‘Our objective was to create a flexible tool to stimulate demand in the local economy during the Covid-19 recovery and provide targeted support to the hospitality sector during the cost of living crisis, which the gift card platform has done successfully.

‘I would like to thank the Manx public and our merchants for their support towards the initiative.’

Designed to give island residents and corporate businesses an option to purchase a gift card that would benefit the local hospitality, it has received criticism by many in the hospitality industry.

Andy Saunders, pub landlord and chair of the licensed victuallers association, told Manx Radio that it was a ‘rather rushed idea’ when it was launched in November 2021 and not something the hospitality trade as a whole was ‘overly supportive of or thought was useful’.

He added: ‘It was relaunched for the winter of 2022/2023 and there was some success with it I thought, it did have a bit more uptake and a bit more use for the Manx public and the hospitality businesses overall.

‘But really, it wasn’t the most successful way of supporting our local economy.’

Mr Saunders continued to say that he believes there are better ways to invest public funds into promoting the sector.

He said: ‘After many years of us trying to campaign that it [the hospitality sector] needed to be supported and encouraged, the government have realised that they really need to look into making the hospitality sector on the Isle of Man more vibrant in whatever ways they can help by supporting private enterprise and private funding.

‘It’s all part and one of the major reasons why we have trouble attracting people to the island and why we have trouble retaining our younger people.’

Queries regarding the LoveIOM cards can be emailed to [email protected] or through Facebook.