A local tech company is offering a new service to the local hospitality industry — free of charge for the rest of the season.

Josh Taylor is the founder and CEO of Txt Squad a local company that offers a team-based texting program that businesses can use to interact with customers. His company has been offering the service abroad, primarily in the US market.

Taylor says most customers prefer to text a business they are dealing with, and his platform offers the ability for operators and workers to interact professionally with customers via text.

He says people often ignore the phone, and email doesn’t have the same sense of urgency.

Taylor is offering his text platform to the hard-hit local hospitality industry for the remainder of the tourism season to help them engage with customers as they work to rebuild after a devastating year.