Focused Only on Pensions and Camping Sites... The 'Untact' Era of Vacations

Want to Go on Vacation but Worried About COVID-19
Seeking Remote Places for a 'Contactless' Vacation
Kids Pensions and Camping Sites Also 'Crowded'

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] "I want to take a vacation, but I'm worried about COVID-19..."

Office worker Jo Byung-han (32, pseudonym) planned his vacation concept this year as a 'pencance' (pension + vacation). He considered skipping his vacation due to concerns about the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), but after being stuck indoors for so long, he felt he had no way to relieve stress without going somewhere. Instead, Jo decided to spend all his time inside a pension with a friend for 3 nights and 4 days, except for meals. He thought this way he could minimize contact with others, maintain 'social distancing,' and still get some rest.

Ji Yoo-jin (39, pseudonym) plans to stay in a remote place and try living there for half a month. Ji said, "Since I didn't have a suitable place to go for vacation, I decided to try the trending long-term stay. Staying in one place allows me to avoid contact with people and leisurely explore the area, so it's a win-win."

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, more people prefer places where they can spend time alone or quietly with family or partners without encountering others, rather than noisy spots. Vacations have also become predominantly contactless (untact). This reflects the mindset of those who are exhausted physically and mentally from long indoor stays and want to take a vacation while avoiding COVID-19 infection.

This trend is not limited to singles. Families with young children find choosing vacation spots even more challenging because they need places where kids can run freely while minimizing face-to-face contact. As evidence, most popular kids' pensions in the Gangwon and Gyeonggi regions are fully booked on weekends until mid-next month. Although prices range from at least 200,000 to 300,000 KRW up to nearly 800,000 KRW per night, finding a room on weekdays is also extremely difficult. These places have swimming pools and kids' cafes relocated inside the accommodation, allowing children to spend time in the room, which is highly preferred by parents. Popular camping and glamping sites in suburban areas are also mostly fully booked on weekends until next month.

In fact, an analysis of accommodation sales by time-commerce platform TMON for April and May this year showed that pensions and camping accounted for 52% of accommodation sales, surpassing hotels and resorts (48%). Especially, the sales share of pensions and camping in April increased by 13 percentage points compared to the same period last year. According to leisure platform Yanolja's user data analysis, pension bookings from March to May increased by 105% compared to the same period last year.

More people are also choosing nearby suburban or tourist destinations for vacations. According to TMON's analysis of last month's domestic accommodation sales share, hotels in urban areas such as Seoul (-0.8%), Gyeonggi (-2.1%), Incheon (-1.5%), and Busan (-3.8%) decreased compared to the same period last year, while Jeju (3.9%), Gyeongsang (2.87%), Jeolla (2%), and Gangwon (2%) showed an increasing trend.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.