Busan is good

“Busan-Style Workation Ranked No. 1 by a Wide Margin”: Busan Metropolitan City Selected as Final Winner in the ‘2026 Best Workation Model’ Competition

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced today (24th) that “Busan-Style Workation (remote work at vacation destinations)” has been finally selected as a representative workation city in Korea through the “2026 Best Workation Model” competition hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization.

This competition is a national project aimed at discovering “stay-based tourism models” that can drive local economies in line with the government’s tourism revitalization policy. Busan received outstanding evaluations throughout all stages—document screening, presentation, and on-site inspection—and was ultimately selected with an overwhelming score.

The City was recognized for its strengths, including ▲a workation environment that satisfies both work and relaxation by combining urban settings with nature ▲high awareness and brand competitiveness as a global tourism city attracting more than 3 million visitors annually ▲excellent work infrastructure, with the entire city functioning as a workation platform.

In addition, the project’s effectiveness was demonstrated through ▲a strategy to revitalize the local economy by attracting a residential population ▲a mutually beneficial structure linking local commercial districts through workation programs ▲accumulated operational achievements and concrete activation plans.

With this selection, the City has secured KRW 200 million in national funding and plans to expand the project in cooperation with the Korea Tourism Organization.

The City will expand the inflow of workation participants—including corporate employees and overseas digital nomads—through targeted promotion and customized attraction support in collaboration with major economic organizations such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Korean Industries.

The secured budget will be strategically invested in expanding participant recruitment to promote stay-based tourism and increase the tourism-oriented residential population, while also fostering a self-sustaining workation industry ecosystem.

Building on this selection, the City will fully advance the establishment of a global workation model where “Work” and “Vacation” coexist.

By linking urban infrastructure with tourism content, the City will create an environment where work and leisure are harmonized, and will expand participatory programs utilizing local spaces and content to encourage repeat visits.

Furthermore, it will establish a virtuous cycle structure for workation that coexists with local communities by building a cooperative network combining public and private sector capabilities.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “This selection is a remarkable achievement that once again proves Busan is the nation’s leading workation city,” adding, “By actively leveraging the secured national funding and our close network with the Korea Tourism Organization, we will focus all administrative capacity on making Busan a global workation hub city where workers from Korea and abroad most want to stay.”