On February 7th, 2025, the 35th Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences Open Seminar, "An Invitation to Humanities and Social Knowledge," was held. Lecturer Konda Shun of the Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences gave a talk titled "Regional Revitalization Through Endurance Sports - Considering Attraction Strategies Based on the Event Participant Questionnaire Data in the Hiwasa Umigame Triathlon," in which he spoke about endurance sports and the Hiwasa Umigame Triathlon.
In this seminar, they discussed future marketing strategies to attract visitors based on the results of a questionnaire survey of participants of the 25th Hiwasa Umigame Triathlon. On the day, the organizing committee that ran the event, the tournament referee, triathlon association officials from other prefectures, and high school students participated, and they were able to share information about the challenges of triathlon events and ways to attract visitors. Lecturer Konda explained that market segmentation is important for sports marketing, which is necessary to get people motivated by sports.
Additionally, since many of the participants in the Hiwasa Umigame Triathlon are veterans from the baby boomer to Gen X generations, it was pointed out that adding a relay event in which three people swim, bike and run could potentially attract new participants.
Participants commented, "I was impressed to see how sports can bring people together," and "I learned new things I didn't know before by researching regional revitalization."
Lecture
