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Explore Butte County Distilled a Dry January Passport

Explore Butte County launched a Dry January Passport powered by Seeker XP to turn the slowest month of the year into a month-long celebration of mocktails, local restaurants, and intentional drinking — driving over 100 visits to local businesses in the first two weeks alone.

Overview

Explore Butte County introduced a free, mobile-first digital passport that rewarded participants for visiting bars, restaurants, and cafes serving zero-proof and low-ABV drinks across the county. Participants earned 7 collectible badges throughout January 2025, with each badge unlocking an entry into a grand prize drawing. The passport tapped into the growing Dry January movement to drive patronage to local businesses during traditionally the slowest month for hospitality — generating revenue, social buzz, and a library of user-generated content participating businesses could use year-round.

At a Glance

Activation: Dry January Passport 2025
Location: Butte County, California
Timeline: January 2025 (1 month)
Audience: Visitors and locals 21+
Use Cases: Beverage Trail, Seasonal, Shop Local
Experience Type: Digital Passport, Check-in Challenge, Photo Challenge
Industry: Destination Marketing
Features: Digital Badges, Photo Check-ins, UGC, Geolocation Check-ins
Platform: Seeker XP

About Explore Butte County

Explore Butte County is the destination marketing organization for Butte County, California — a region in the scenic northern Sacramento Valley known for towering Table Mountain, lush Bidwell Park, and the cities of Biggs, Chico, Gridley, and Oroville. Chico anchors the county’s culinary scene with craft breweries, farmers’ markets, and the iconic Sierra Nevada Brewery, while Oroville offers fishing and boating on Lake Oroville.

The DMO promotes tourism and fosters community engagement year-round through festivals and vibrant events that bring residents and visitors together.

Like every hospitality-driven destination, Butte County faces a perennial challenge: January is one of the slowest months of the year for restaurants and bars. Explore Butte County wanted to flip that script — using the growing Dry January movement as an opportunity to drive patronage, support local businesses, and showcase the region’s expanding no- and low-ABV offerings.

“The Dry January Passport is a great opportunity for people to stick with their dry goals while also still supporting local businesses through a typically slow part of the year. We know that Dry January is picking up in popularity and that younger consumers are drinking less in general, so we wanted to give restaurants an opportunity to capitalize on this growing trend during the month of January, and hopefully expand their non-alcoholic offerings year-round.”
Ashley Baer, Marketing Director, Explore Butte County

How it Worked

Explore Butte County built a free, mobile-friendly digital passport on Seeker XP — no app download required. Participants signed up at go.explorebuttecounty.com/dry-january-passport, then used the responsive, location-aware map to find participating venues and their featured Dry January offerings.

At each venue, participants checked in by snapping a photo of their zero-proof drink. Photo check-ins fed into an engaging activity feed that doubled as social proof — and gave participating businesses a steady stream of authentic UGC to repurpose across their own marketing channels.

The passport featured 7 collectible badges, each tied to a different category of participating venues across Butte County:

Local restaurants and cafes serving mocktails
Bars and breweries with zero-proof menus
Coffee shops and tea houses
Wineries and tasting rooms with N/A options
Specialty bottle shops

Every badge earned unlocked an entry into the grand prize drawing — giving participants a reason to keep exploring beyond their usual go-to spots and try venues they’d never visited before.

Activities

Mocktail Hunting

Participants checked in by photographing their zero-proof cocktail at participating restaurants, bars, and cafes — discovering new local spots while supporting their Dry January goals.

Local Business Support

Each check-in drove real foot traffic to 24 participating Butte County venues during the slowest month of the year for hospitality.

Badge Collection

Participants earned 7 distinct badges by exploring different categories of venues — from breweries to coffee shops — with each badge unlocking a grand prize entry.

Badges

Rewards

Each badge earned a Grand Prize Drawing entry — with one Triple Taster bonus for picking up a Dry January Passport sticker along the way. The more badges, the more chances to win.

Taste Tester, Oroville Explorer, Chico Adventurer, Zero-Proof Experience, Mocktail Maven, Sip Seeker Supreme: 1 Grand Prize Drawing entry each.

Triple Taster: 1 Dry January Passport sticker + 1 Grand Prize Drawing entry.

Grand Prize: A curated Butte County prize package awarded at the end of January to randomly selected badge earners.

Why We Love It

Turned the Slowest Month into a Win

January is brutal for hospitality. Explore Butte County turned a marketing problem into 100+ business visits in two weeks by tapping into a cultural trend already gaining steam.
Rode a Cultural Wave

25% of American drinkers now participate in Dry January, and the no-and-low ABV market has grown 30% in three years. The passport met the audience exactly where it already was.
Pre-Launch Momentum that Paid Off

100 sign-ups before day one, fueled by a mix of owned, paid, and earned media. Businesses saw increased patronage from the very first weekend.
Built a UGC Library for Local Businesses

Photo check-ins turned every participant into a content creator — producing a stream of authentic mocktail photos that participating venues can use across their marketing for the entire year.
Set Up for a Year-Round Flywheel

The Dry January diner database becomes the launch list for the next pass — Restaurant Week in spring, summer Sip Trail, or fall harvest. One month of work, audience compounding all year.

Mocktails from Across the County (UGC)

Photo check-ins from across Butte County during the month-long Dry January Passport — authentic mocktail moments captured by participants that businesses can repurpose across social, web, and email marketing all year long.