Restaurant week is already one of the best foot traffic drivers on your calendar. Adding a digital Passport Challenge turns it into a full community event that gets more people in the door at every participating spot.

Here's how to run one that actually works.

What a Passport Challenge Is and Why Gamification Works

A Passport Challenge gives visitors a digital passport they fill in by checking in at participating restaurants. Each check-in earns a stamp. Collect enough stamps and they earn a reward: a gift card, a future discount, entry into a drawing, or something your sponsors want to offer.

The reason it works is simple: people love a game. When you turn restaurant week into something with progress to track, a leaderboard to climb, and a reward to earn, participation goes up. Visitors who might have gone to one spot now have a reason to try somewhere new. People who were on the fence register because they don't want to miss out. And businesses see more traffic because the event has momentum that carries through the whole week, not just opening night.

Gamifying your restaurant week also gives you something to talk about in your marketing. "Join the passport challenge and win" is a much more compelling call to action than "support local restaurants."

How Check-Ins Work

Visitors can check in a few different ways depending on what works best for your restaurants: scanning a QR code at the location, entering a code given by the business, submitting a photo, uploading a receipt, or using geolocation. You pick the method that makes sense for your event, and restaurants don't need any special equipment or training to make it work.

Go Digital, Physical, or Both

Proxi can generate a printed checklist or bingo-style passport that you distribute at participating restaurants. Guests pick one up when they arrive, check in online and have their paper copy to remind them where they can go next.

The combination -- digital for the engaged, print for the walk-ins -- makes sure you're not leaving anyone out.

Start Registration 30 Days Out

One of the most underused strategies for a successful passport is early registration. Open sign-ups a full month before restaurant week starts and run a campaign to get people registered in advance.

Why does this matter? Because once someone is registered, you have their contact info and their permission to reach them. Proxi's built-in messaging tools let you send texts and emails directly to your registered participants. Reminders about the event, featured restaurants to try, progress nudges, and last-chance messages as the week wraps up. That kind of direct communication gets people off the fence and into a restaurant.

Help Visitors Find the Right Spot With Smart Filters

During restaurant week, the question isn't just "where should I eat?", it's "where should I eat given what I'm in the mood for, who I'm with, and what I want to spend?"

Your map can answer that. Set up filters so visitors can browse by cuisine type, price point, family-friendly options, or whatever categories make sense for your district. Someone looking for a casual lunch with kids has different needs than a couple planning a date night, and a good filter gets them to the right spot fast which means they actually go, instead of giving up and heading to a chain.

Keep People Engaged Throughout the Week

The energy of restaurant week can fade mid-week if you're not actively stoking it. Messaging tools let you stay in touch with registered participants every day of the event. Send a morning text highlighting a featured restaurant. Drop a mid-week email showing the current leaderboard. Send a final push on the last day reminding people how close they are to earning their reward.

Those touchpoints keep the event top of mind and drive real incremental visits. People who got a reminder on Wednesday go out on Wednesday.

Make It Fun With Leaderboards, Photo Feeds, and Progress Bars

The social and competitive elements of a Passport Challenge are what make it something people talk about.

A public leaderboard shows who's leading the stamp count which motivates competitive participants and gives you something to post on social mid-week. A photo feed where visitors share their meals creates user-generated content that markets the event for you. Progress bars show each participant how close they are to their reward, which is a surprisingly effective nudge to get one more check-in.

Participants can also share their progress directly from their passport, which means your restaurant week gets promoted to their friends and followers organically. That's reach you don't have to pay for.

The Awards Keep People Going

The reward at the finish line matters, but so does the journey. Consider adding milestone rewards along the way. A small recognition at three stamps, the main reward at completion so people feel progress even before they've finished.

You can also run a grand prize drawing for everyone who completes the challenge, which gives you a bigger pool of engaged participants and something worth promoting. Sponsors love being attached to awards because it gives their brand a positive association with a fun community moment.

Use This Format Again

Once your Passport Challenge is set up in Proxi, the next one is faster to launch. The same structure works for a holiday shop local campaign, a summer dining series, a local business month, or any multi-business activation you're running. Your audience gets familiar with the format and looks forward to the next round.

Restaurant week is the perfect place to start. The built-in enthusiasm is already there. The passport just gives people more reasons to show up, explore, and come back.