At the "Delicious! Fun! Bridge Marche" held in front of JR Hakata Station on Friday, January 30th and Saturday, January 31st, students from Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development worked on planning and running the booths to liven up the event.
Launched in September 2025, this project is a three-way collaboration between the local government (Shimonoseki City), a company (JR Hakata City), and Kyushu Sangyo University. 11 third-year students from the Department of Tourism and Department of Regional Development worked on the theme of "Communicating the Charms of Shimonoseki" as part of the PBL course "Tourism Region Promotion Project" (led by Professor Nagamatsu Takefumi, Department of Tourism). First, they deepened their understanding of local businesses and products through fieldwork in Shimonoseki. Then, based on the insights and challenges gained through this process, they split into three teams: "Sales Promotion and Customer Attraction Measures," "Visitor Survey Design," and "Booth Planning and Spatial Design," and worked together to develop ideas while fulfilling their respective roles.
The Sales Promotion and Customer Attraction Team planned a "Warm Lottery" as a way for visitors to have fun while wandering around the venue. They devised a system whereby customers could participate in a "no-lose lottery" by shopping at two stores within the venue, and worked to create a flow that would naturally encourage visitors to visit multiple booths. They also incorporated keyword rallies and quizzes, and actively encouraged visitors to join in, helping to create a lively atmosphere at the venue.
The booth planning and production team used panels to display Shimonoseki City products that the students had selected as their "best" products, and devised ways to communicate the products' features and appeal. The displays were accompanied by handwritten posters, which conveyed the products in an easy-to-understand manner from a student perspective, creating an opportunity for visitors to stop and pick up the products.
In addition, the visitor survey design team set up questions such as age, place of residence, how they found out about the event, and reasons for purchasing products, with the aim of utilizing the results in future event management and regional collaboration. On the day of the event, they called for cooperation in the visitor survey and began collecting data.
Businesses in Shimonoseki who participated in the event gave high praise to the students' activities, saying things like, "It was a great event thanks to the students who made it so lively," and "The whole venue was very bright and lively with their youth and enthusiasm."
Project member Ueda Ryosuke (Kyushu High School affiliated) from Department of Tourism recalls, "This time, we planned raffles and prize draws to let many people know about the attractions of Shimonoseki and encourage them to purchase products. During the preparation process, we all discussed together measures to encourage people to visit the venue, panel production, and the contents of the questionnaire. The response on the day was greater than we expected, and it was such a fun and fulfilling experience that the time seemed to fly by."
We will continue to work with the local community to promote the area's attractions from a student's unique perspective.
[Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development]
