MUTron, a nuclear power plant maintenance company in its fourth year of operation, moved its registered corporate headquarters from Incheon to Busan last December. As the company weighed whether to establish itself in the southeastern region, where nuclear plants are concentrated, the Busan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation (Busan CCEI) persuaded MUTron to relocate its headquarters. When Busan CCEI carried out an investment in MUTron together with the technology holding arm of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), MUTron decided to move to Busan.
"We are preparing to build a factory in Gijang-gun, Busan, with support from a local financial firm," said An Moon-sung, CEO of MUTron. "By the time the factory building is complete, I plan to hire more than 20 employees, find a home, and move to Busan with my family."
Busan is being reborn as a national hotspot for workations, or remote work at vacation destinations. As support such as lodging cost subsidies aimed at increasing long-term visitors spread by word of mouth, more than 20,000 people visited Busan for workations over three years. On top of this, the agency in charge of the policy is now pursuing measures to attract out-of-region startups, going beyond one-off workations. The strategy aims to hit two targets at once: boosting local consumption and expanding the startup ecosystem.
According to Busan CCEI on the 15th, cumulative users of the centers totaled 20,598 from the opening of the first Busan workation center (shared workspace) in February 2023 through the end of June this year. Excluding public holidays, this amounts to an average of 23 people visiting Busan and using the centers each day. Busan CCEI operates seven centers, including its flagship center located right in front of Busan Station, across the Seo-gu, Yeongdo-gu, and Jung-gu areas.
Workations are one of the policies Busan CCEI is focusing on to revitalize the local economy. The area it is putting particular effort into is encouraging medium- to long-term stays and repeat visits. Rather than attracting daily visitors, the main goal is to draw weekly visitors to increase local consumption. To this end, Busan CCEI offers workation visitors who apply online in advance a lodging discount of 50,000 won per night for up to 10 nights. According to Busan CCEI, about 85% of workation center users stay in Busan for two days or more.
These support measures are drawing praise from users. Yoo A-reum, 29, whom the reporter met at the workation flagship center on the 10th of this month, was enjoying her second Busan workation following one two years ago. "I have gone on workations to various regions, but considering the convenience of using public transportation and access to workspaces, my satisfaction with the Busan workation was the highest," Yoo said. Bang Ji-hyun, 29, who lives in Seo-gu, Incheon, said, "This was my first visit to Busan since becoming an adult, and my four-night, five-day workation experience was so good that I want to return to Busan for a proper vacation next time."
Another key project for Busan CCEI is attracting early-stage companies from outside the region. The approach involves instilling a positive impression in out-of-region startups that have used the workation centers, and then proposing headquarters relocation or the opening of a Busan office. For newly settled companies, Busan CCEI provides support such as center passes for employees, connections to local financial institutions, and networking events for entrepreneurs. To date, a total of 20 out-of-region companies have settled in Busan, either relocating their headquarters or opening new offices.
Busan CCEI plans to prepare policies through which workations can lead to an increase in the resident population, including developing a "month-long stay" workation business model. It also plans to expand a global workation program that promotes visits to Busan by overseas companies. "We will create an even stronger local startup ecosystem by providing settlement support, investment, and open innovation to companies visiting Busan," said Kim Yong-woo, CEO of Busan CCEI.
According to Busan CCEI on the 15th, cumulative users of the centers totaled 20,598 from the opening of the first Busan workation center (shared workspace) in February 2023 through the end of June this year. Excluding public holidays, this amounts to an average of 23 people visiting Busan and using the centers each day. Busan CCEI operates seven centers, including its flagship center located right in front of Busan Station, across the Seo-gu, Yeongdo-gu, and Jung-gu areas.
Workations are one of the policies Busan CCEI is focusing on to revitalize the local economy. The area it is putting particular effort into is encouraging medium- to long-term stays and repeat visits. Rather than attracting daily visitors, the main goal is to draw weekly visitors to increase local consumption. To this end, Busan CCEI offers workation visitors who apply online in advance a lodging discount of 50,000 won per night for up to 10 nights. According to Busan CCEI, about 85% of workation center users stay in Busan for two days or more.
These support measures are drawing praise from users. Yoo A-reum, 29, whom the reporter met at the workation flagship center on the 10th of this month, was enjoying her second Busan workation following one two years ago. "I have gone on workations to various regions, but considering the convenience of using public transportation and access to workspaces, my satisfaction with the Busan workation was the highest," Yoo said. Bang Ji-hyun, 29, who lives in Seo-gu, Incheon, said, "This was my first visit to Busan since becoming an adult, and my four-night, five-day workation experience was so good that I want to return to Busan for a proper vacation next time."
Another key project for Busan CCEI is attracting early-stage companies from outside the region. The approach involves instilling a positive impression in out-of-region startups that have used the workation centers, and then proposing headquarters relocation or the opening of a Busan office. For newly settled companies, Busan CCEI provides support such as center passes for employees, connections to local financial institutions, and networking events for entrepreneurs. To date, a total of 20 out-of-region companies have settled in Busan, either relocating their headquarters or opening new offices.
Busan CCEI plans to prepare policies through which workations can lead to an increase in the resident population, including developing a "month-long stay" workation business model. It also plans to expand a global workation program that promotes visits to Busan by overseas companies. "We will create an even stronger local startup ecosystem by providing settlement support, investment, and open innovation to companies visiting Busan," said Kim Yong-woo, CEO of Busan CCEI.
