New website showwalove.com aims to connect shoppers with small businesses across the state

It didn’t take long for the Washington Tourism Alliance to ramp up its support of small businesses once the coronavirus pandemic put a hold on the tourism industry.

To connect Washingtonians with small businesses near and far, the organization created showwalove.com.

On the website, which launched March 30, people can browse listings from small businesses throughout the state in the following categories: lodging, services, attractions, retail, tours, food and drink and takeout.

They can then purchase gift cards for those businesses to be used at a later date.

The listings, nearly 1,000 so far, can be searched via category and region. The Northeast region includes listings for Rock City Grill, Sweet Frostings, Incrediburger and Eggs and the Spokane Valley Mall. The Southeast region features listings for Cougar Country Drive-In, Beamers Hells Canyon Tours, Trailside Taproom, Monroe Men’s Boutique and more.

“Our whole goal is to be promoting the Washington tourism industry out of our state, and (after the pandemic hit) that became evident that we weren’t going to be able to do that,” Mike Moe, managing director of the Washington Tourism Alliance, said.

“We wanted to do something that would really support the industry and support our stakeholders. The showwalove website was a great way for us to see if we can connect Washingtonians who want to support their favorite local businesses with our stakeholders.”

When compiling listings for the website, the organization reached out to small businesses directly but also received a lot of help from destination marketing organizations like Visit Spokane, Tourism Walla Walla and Visit Yakima, which connected the Washington Tourism Alliance with businesses that already had online gift cards available and spread the word about showwalove.com.

The Washington Tourism Alliance also partnered with small business-focused tech company Kabbage, which has a program that allows businesses that don’t already have gift cards to create online gift cards.

“We reached out to all the stakeholders directly and created a really easy way on the site to set up their own listing and manage their own listing and videos, tutorials on how to do it if folks aren’t comfortable using that kind of technology,” Moe said. “We tried to get the word out as much as we could either directly or through our destination marketing partners.”

Businesses not already on showalove.com should visit the site to learn how to upload a listing and set up a gift card.

Moe is hoping that people will use showwalove.com for two things.

First, he hopes they will purchase gift cards for or takeout from local businesses that they supported before the coronavirus pandemic.

“This thing has been catastrophic to the tourism industry,” he said. “You look at the numbers, and they are really tough for any business owner in Washington state, especially for tourist-related businesses. Anything that people can do now to help the cash flow of these businesses, help them keep their employees, help them keep going as much as they can as they navigate this crisis.”

Secondly, he hopes those in Washington can use showwalove.com to plan trips to take after the stay-home orders have been lifted, the idea being to “Buy Now. Play Later.”

“I think, initially, people are going to want to stay in state,” he said. “They’re not going to want to go very far. They’re going to want to expand their backyard, and this is a great way to not only support your local businesses but also dream about where you’re going to go when you can go somewhere. People are going to be looking to get out and explore their home state once this is over.”

Thus far, Moe has received positive feedback from business owners, who appreciate the support, and shoppers, who want to make sure their favorite shops, restaurants and resorts are around after COVID-19 is no longer an issue.

Moe can picture the website staying active after the pandemic if it continues to make a positive impact on the tourism industry.

“It’s a tough time for our industry, and anything that we can do that helps the small-business owners in our state get through and navigate this crisis, we’re going to do,” he said. “Our organization is here to do that, and we want to be that resource for businesses.”