The KOHA Digital Gift Card, launched by Hospitality New Zealand in October 2021, was created to encourage spending within our hospitality sector - allowing people to purchase and redeem a digital card at participating venues across the country for food, drinks, activities, and accommodation.
At its peak, more than 1,000 venues took part, and last year we expanded KOHA to include physical gift cards. However, despite our efforts, uptake remained low. Feedback from both operators and customers indicated that the QR-based payment process could be clunky, and many users found the redemption process confusing.
Demand for KOHA has steadily declined over the past two years and as a result, we made the decision earlier this year to cease selling KOHA Gift Cards - both online and in physical form - as of June 2025.
There are currently 427 active KOHA Cards still in circulation that can be redeemed at participating venues listed on the KOHA website.
We encourage any cardholders to use their balance at participating venues while they can.
The full wind-down of KOHA operations will take place over the next 18 months, with the final active card expiring on 14 June 2027. KOHA operations will officially close on 30 June 2027.
What This Means for You
If you currently accept KOHA:
You don’t need to take any action, other than checking that your venue information is up to date on the KOHA website:
If anything needs updating, please email koha@hospitality.org.nz.
If you no longer wish to accept KOHA:
Simply email koha@hospitality.org.nz with your venue details, and we’ll remove you from the directory.
If a customer tries to redeem a KOHA Card at your venue but you don’t accept it:
Please ask them to contact koha@hospitality.org.nz, and we’ll assist them in exchanging their KOHA Card for another suitable gift voucher.
We want to thank all our members who supported the KOHA initiative - it was created to drive spending back into our industry, and your participation helped make that possible. Although it’s sad to say goodbye to KOHA, we are already working on a replacement and hope to share more details with you in the near future.