AFTER MORE than 12 months in operation, the NSW government's popular Dine and Discover program is set to come to an end on Thursday 30 June.

Looking back on the program, many business owners and managers in the Western Plains say, despite the occasional hiccup, they think the program has been a great success for supporting small businesses.

Dine and Discover was first launched by the government in March 2021 with four $25 vouchers, two for hospitality businesses and two for cultural venues.

The purpose of the program was to try and attract NSW residents to get back out and support small businesses in the aftermath of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.

Additional lockdowns across the state in 2021 saw the program extended into mid-2022, along with an additional voucher in each category.

According to the government, more than 5.4 million customers registered for the program, with more than 155,000 vouchers issued across the Western Plains. Around 77,936 (worth $1,926,184) of these were redeemed as of Wednesday 29 June, while 77,616 (worth $1,940,000) were left unredeemed.

Meanwhile a total of 130 businesses registered to be a part of the program to accept Dine vouchers, Discover Vouchers or both. Split into LGAs, this included 12 in Bogan, eight in Bourke, two in Brewarrina, nine in Cobar, nine in Coonamble, 11 in Gilgandra, 12 in Lachlan, 13 in Narromine, 18 in Walgett and 30 in Warrumbungle.

One of the earliest regional businesses to register as a participating business was Brewarrina coffee shop owner Trish Frail. Ms Frail said the program had been very popular in her community.

"The majority of my customers used their vouchers as soon as they got them which was great, considering what we were going through," Ms Frail said.

"I would say it's definitely assisted me and my business. Because I live in a small town, there were only five or six places where you can actually go to eat, so people worked them around those."

ABOVE: Brewarrina business owner Trish Frail has been a big supporter of the voucher program. Image supplied.

Ms Frail also acknowledged the Discover vouchers had been a point of contention in communities like hers as there were limited to no options for people to use them locally.

Walgett Sporting Club Manager Natalie Thurston said this was also the case in Walgett, with the club actually deciding to stop accepting the vouchers altogether last month due to confrontations with customers.

"A lot of people were trying to use their Discover ones to pay for meals and getting a bit rude about it when we didn't accept them," Ms Thurston.

"Some people also didn't like going along with the rules that you couldn't use them for takeaway (initially)."

Despite the few bad apples, Ms Thurston said she was still complimentary of the program as a way of encouraging people to go out and spend money in their local communities.

"We were accepting a few every day and a lot of people have actually been coming in and getting a dearer meal than they would normally get," she said.

The vouchers also encouraged some organisations to step outside the box and organise methods of accepting Discover vouchers, from agricultural show memberships to tickets to live shows.

One of these was the Warren Services Club, who hosted a Sydney-based Beatles tribute show earlier this month.

Manager Amanda Brien said she saw hosting the show while giving locals the opportunity to use any unused Discover vouchers as a true 'win/win' situation.

"The process to get registered was quite hard, but it was definitely worth it for a lot of our members and the show was pretty much a sell-out," Ms Brien said.

"A lot of our older members couldn't go to the zoo or theatre but loved the Beatles, so it was great we could put something on where they could stay at home while putting money back in their community."

The services club was also the first in Warren to accept Dine vouchers and, with people still coming in to use them before they expire, Ms Brien said it was clear they had made a big difference.

"After doing calculations for the EOFY, I've seen that we've redeemed 623 vouches in last 12 months," she said.

"I think the biggest spike for us came when the government allowed people to use them for takeaway after the lockdown in the second half of last year."

While she thought wholeheartedly that the program had been a success, she also said she wouldn't be sad to see the voucher program go.

"I honestly think that it's run its course, all good things must come to an end and people have definitely had plenty of time to redeem them," she said.

"(However), it's definitely been very beneficial to the business and the residents of NSW during what have been very difficult times."

The Western Plains App contacted Service NSW for comment on the success of the program in regional NSW, however did not receive a response before publication.