Discount Program Hopes to ‘WOO’ Town Customers

The WOO discount card, once only available to college students, is now available for the general public. The card includes savings incentives to more than 50 area restaurants, hotels and shopping venues.

"Recognizing that Worcester County's strong academic and cultural communities have an enormous impact on our economy, we continue to look for opportunities to enrich experiences for students, residents and visitors alike," said Worcester City Manager Michael V. O'Brien. "This is a tremendous city-wide effort to actively engage the masses in creative experiences throughout the city, throughout the region."

Initially launched in 2007 as a means of better engaging of college students into cultural institutions, the WOO Card program expanded in 2009 to include a public component. The expansion to include for-profit creative business partners has been a goal of the program since its inception. Currently, there are more than 7,000 college WOO cards and another 1,000 public WOO cards in circulation.

Participating Westborough area retailers include . Some of the other Worcester County participants include Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, DCU Center, EcoTarium, Fruitlands Museum, Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts, Higgins Armory Museum, Mechanics Hall, Old Sturbridge Village, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester Center for Crafts, the Grafton Inn, Celtic Tavern, Flying Rhino Café and the Worcester Sharks.

In addition to discounts, WOO patrons also earn WOO points each time they use the card by having it swiped at either a front desk or box office. Ten points awards a restaurant gift card, 25 points earns complimentary admission to a cultural venue, 50 points gives two complimentary tickets to a show at The Hanover Theatre, and 100 points awards a combination of admission  to one or more cultural venues, restaurant gift card, transportation and/or hotel accommodations.

WOO cards are available for $20 and can be purchased online at www.WOOCard.org as well as at the box offices of both The Hanover Theater and the DCU Center. A $5 discount is available to Westborough Patch readers by using the coupon code PATCH at checkout. More information can be found on the WOO website.

Information courtesy of the WOO card. 

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