[O-01] Geoparks in Japan

[O01-P26] A system of authorized products of the Mikasa Geopark

*Kei SHIMOMURA¹, Ken'ichi KURIHARA² (1.Secretary of the Mikasa Geopark Promotion Council, 2.Mikasa City Museum)

Keywords:local development, authorized products, development of new products, geopark activities, Mikasa Geopark

The Mikasa Geopark has put a system of authorized products of the Mikasa Geopark from 2014, to promote local development within the area of the geopark. The system is, 1) to invite souvenirs and foods that can imagine attributes of the Mikasa Geopark, 2) to evaluate these products under a certain criteria, 3) to approve as authorized products of the Mikasa Geopark, and finally 4) to increase buying intention of tourists. Moreover, we also expect that the system gives commercial and industrial people an opportunity to take part in the geopark activities.

Now the 22 authorized products are selected by the examination board held on five times. The special promotion of these products are taking effort on the website and SNS site (Facebook) of the Mikasa Geopark, and are used preferentially in the geo-tours and geo-events (e.g., lunch box).

In the presention, we introduce the system of authorized products of the Mikasa Geopark, and discuss the results and effects.