It was revealed that the economic ripple effect of the “Tosa no Okyaku” event held in March exceeded 1 billion yen for the first time. Going forward, the prefecture plans to strengthen its PR activities in order to attract more tourists from outside the prefecture.

Tosa no Okyaku has been held since 2006, and will be held for the 17th time in 2024. The organizing committee reported that the economic ripple effect has exceeded the 1 billion yen target for the first time since the event began.

The number of visitors to Central Park during this period was 90,186, also the highest ever. Both figures exceeded those of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, a survey of visitors revealed that around 90% of them were from within Kochi Prefecture.

In order to spread the “Okiyaku culture” outside the prefecture and overseas, and thereby aim to have an even greater ripple effect on the prefecture’s economy, the Promotion Council plans to speed up the recruitment of stores and put more effort into posting information on the internet.

(Yuji Kimura, Chairman of the Tosa Okyaku 2024 Promotion Council)
“It has become an event that is anticipated as a fun event by both local residents and tourists. We envision more than 30% of our visitors being from overseas and outside the prefecture. With such people attending, we think it will be a really interesting event.”

The 2025 Tosa Okyaku is scheduled to be held from March 1st to 9th, mainly in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, and the next promotion conference will be held in November.