Suncheon-si Selected as Government-Recognized Optimal Workation Destination

Published 22 Aug.2023 13:55(KST)

Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Hometown Olrae Project Selected for Workation Category Competition

The government has recognized Suncheon as the optimal location for workation in Korea.

Suncheon City (Mayor Noh Gwan-gyu) announced on the 21st that it was finally selected in the workation category of the Hometown Olrae project promoted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

[Photo by Suncheon City]

The Hometown Olrae project, launched for the first time this year, was planned to lay the foundation for revitalizing the local economy by securing a stay-type living population rather than a resident population, reflecting rapidly changing policy environments such as the risk of local extinction and increased population mobility.

Workation, a compound word of work and vacation, is a way to enjoy leisure while working. It has emerged as a new tourism trend following the diversification of work styles after the post-COVID era and the advent of the wellness era.

In this contest, Suncheon received high scores for its ecological tourism content linked to Suncheon Bay Wetland and the Garden Expo, well-established residential environment infrastructure including transportation and surrounding convenience facilities, and ripple effects exerting influence on neighboring local governments as a hub city of the South Coast Belt.

Selected as the optimal workation site, Suncheon secured a special subsidy of 500 million KRW and plans to establish a workation base facility with a total project cost of 1 billion KRW, as well as plan and operate a Suncheon-style regional specialized workation program.

Along with this, the city plans to carry out projects to attract participating companies and organizations through focused promotion and agreements targeting metropolitan area companies and investment attraction institutions.

Additionally, incentives such as providing the same tourist site usage benefits as Suncheon citizens for workation users, and discounts on accommodation and transportation fees linked to local currency will be supported to help Suncheon become a sacred place for workation.

A Suncheon city official said, “We will do our best to establish a milestone as the nation’s leading workation area by utilizing Suncheon’s excellent local resources and the ripple effects of the expo.”