As the spread of COVID-19 prolonged, remote work became active, and interest in workspace increased. Workation is a new word that combines “Work” and “Vacation.” Workation means that workers carry out sightseeing and recreation while carrying out their daily work at a desired location or vacation spot. Workation, a new form of tourism, is attracting attention as a key content not only in terms of corporate management efficiency, but also in terms of revitalizing local tourism that can solve the problem of depopulated areas. Additionally, workation, which minimizes commuting to and from work, is also an approachable measure to reduce carbon emissions.
The competitiveness of Gyeonggi-do's workation was analyzed by dividing it into ① competitiveness in terms of supply centered on facilities and ② competitiveness in terms of demand centered on tourists. The results show that urban work facilities in terms of work supply were found to be below average while recreational and rural/traditional experience work facilities were above average. In terms of workspace demand, Gyeonggi-do ranks first as a domestic travel destination, but its competitiveness as a place to stay appears to be somewhat lacking.
A survey was conducted to tourism businesses in order to examine the operation status and awareness of workation as a new form of tourism, and 273 valid samples were collected. The survey items were categorized into awareness of workation, the company's workation operation status and future plans, and awareness of workation policy. As a result of the survey, 34.8% of responding companies were found to be aware of ‘Workation’, with a high overall response of ‘not aware’. Among all responding companies, only 7.0% operated work-related facilities and programs. When asked if there were any plans to introduce additional or new work facilities and programs, 30.8% of respondents said they had no plans to introduce them, and 46.9% said they did not know, which was higher than the number of respondents who said they had any plans. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide work information and improve awareness through strategic promotion, and also to strengthen governance for systematic support.
This study conducted work-related conditions analysis, case analysis, and tourism business surveys to provide policy implications related to revitalizing Gyeonggi-do tourism (3 major strategies, 13 tasks). First, Gyeonggi-do needs to create a work base. Work infrastructure must be improved and working environment must be created. An establishment of work base offices in major base areas in Gyeonggi-do is needed to develop collaboration models with work facility companies, and support the creation of work environments (accommodation, work, auxiliary facilities, etc.). Second, increase the demand for workation. In order to create the demand for workation, participation needs to be expanded with the programs being upgraded. We need to carry out Gyeonggi-do's workation campaign, develop a dedicated website, devise work programs for foreigners, and link workation with Gyeonggi-do's international exchange cities. Third, support for the activation of workation. Governance must be strengthened and systems need to be improved to revitalize workation. We need to carry out an establishment of a workation alliance, workation support projects, public sector workation pilot projects, and enactment of support ordinances.