Examining the tourism experiences of Workation travelers

Abstract

This study aims to examine the concept of workation and develop a theory accordingly. Grounded theory was employed as the research methodology, and theoretical sampling was used as the sampling method. Participants in this study included Koreans who had engaged in workation activities within the past year, selected based on their level of involvement in both work and tourism activities. Data were collected from 16 individuals through two rounds of interviews conducted between September 2nd and October 13th, 2022. The analysis yielded a total of 93 concepts, 24 subcategories, and 9 categories. Workation was found to be a convergence concept that encompasses tourism, work, and daily life. Attributes that differentiate it from existing tourism include proactive, impromptu, independent, local, and daily tourism experiences.The core category emerged as 'tourism + work + everyday long-term tourism experience as a new stimulus,' leading to the formulation of the 'TWD (Tourism + Work + Daily) long-term stay theory. This study differentiates itself from prior research by departing from a binary categorization of workation as either work or tourism. Instead, it explores the concept of workation within the context of a blend of tourism, work, and daily life. Furthermore, this study holds academic significance in its revelation of the distinct characteristics of the tourism experiences associated with workation, setting them apart from conventional tourism experiences, and subsequently proposing a theory to capture these distinctions. From a political and practical perspective, this research offers valuable insights into leveraging workation to stimulate regional tourism, as evidenced by the contents of the interviews. This study is expected to make a valuable contribution to the innovative growth of the tourism industry by proactively addressing emerging social phenomena and discussing workation as a new and local tourism trend.