Hwacheon Tomato Festival Generates Nearly 7 Billion Won in Economic Benefits

The study, conducted by the Sewon Economic Policy Research Institute at the request of the Hwacheon County government, discovered that the county’s annual tomato festival brought in 6.7 billion won to the local community this year. (Image: Yonhap)

HWACHEON, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — A study has claimed the economic spinoffs of this year’s Hwacheon Tomato Festival are estimated to total 6.7 billion won.

The study, conducted by the Sewon Economic Policy Research Institute at the request of the Hwacheon County government, discovered that the county’s annual tomato festival brought in 6.7 billion won to the local community this year.

A study has claimed the economic spinoffs of this year’s Hwacheon Tomato Festival are estimated to total 6.7 billion won. (Image: Yonhap)

The figure is up 747 million won from last year’s 5.98 billion won, with the average spending of each visitor estimated at 45,312 won.

During the four-day festival, which was held earlier this month, over 150,000 visitors from across the country came to enjoy the tomato-themed annual event, among which over 90 percent were thought to be from outside the local community, spending over 6.4 billion won.

When broken down by spending type, visitors from outside the community disbursed nearly 2.5 billion won on food and beverages and 1.75 billion won on lodging.

The also study found festival attendees spent less on shopping and entertainment, posing a challenge to the event’s governing body to come up with more attractions and products in the future.

When broken down by spending type, visitors from outside the community disbursed nearly 2.5 billion won on food and beverages and 1.75 billion won on lodging. (Image: Yonhap)

“To improve the economic contribution to the community and tourist satisfaction in the tomato festival, we’ll work together with local residents to fix problems based on the findings of the study,” said Choi Moon-soon, the governor of Hwacheon County.

M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)