Nobody could ever imagine that a disease would lock people indoors for the longest possible time and eventually blur the lines between personal and professional lives. It will be wrong to deny that work from home does not provide comfort, but somehow in the cycle of office becoming home and home becoming office, our lives have reduced to a balance beam managing household chores and office work. And, in this conundrum, the wanderlust soul is lost and is yearning to pick the backpack again and escape to the foothills of Manali or feel the breeze of Goan beaches.
For the well-being of employees, several corporates have allowed the work from home, but this long isolation from social life and the covid impact has created anxiety, low motivation levels and low employee morale.
Against this backdrop, travellers are desperately looking for an escapade from boredom, that combines both work and vacation – a Workation and is the ultimate therapy for the body, mind and soul.
What is Workation?
Workation, as the name suggests, is taking your office along for the vacation. This looks like a bit of an oxymoron, but it is an emerging travel behavior that currently individuals are opting to work from a leisure location.
An individual while working can attend meetings while enjoying the breathtaking views of the hills or ocean and without worrying about household chores. The maximum stay in the workation ranges from 1 week to 2 weeks. Destinations like Goa, Jaipur, Shimla, Udaipur and Uttarakhand are the most preferred locations for workation stays.
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With the workation there will be a revival of the domestic tourism industry which is estimated to be at risk of Rs 15 lakh crore as per Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH).
What are Hostel Chains and travel companies doing for workation?
According to a survey by Booking.com, 68 percent of Indian travellers have considered booking a place somewhere to work from a different destination. The hotel chain homestays and travel companies are capitalising on this novel trend by introducing workation-friendly accommodation such as high-speed internet connectivity, power backup, comfortable stay, first-aid facilities, healthy food, office-goers easily attending calls, kids attending online classes, etc. at pocket-friendly prices.
Here are some of the attractive workation packages that hostel chains are launching:
Madpackers: This chain of hostels spread across five cities is offering packages for long stays, workations and discounts on travel cards that are redeemable against stay and food and beverage without a time limit.
The Hosteller: To attract more people for workation it has made booking and cancellation policies flexible to give travellers the option to modify travel dates if any change government policies. To make stays fun it has introduced jungle walks, river walks, short hikes, bonfire nights, movie nights and games for keeping customers engaged.
Zostel:To ensure that there is no interruption in work, it is taking extra care in providing high-speed internet connection with regularly sanitised dorms and workspaces.
Piggy Ventures: A Goa-based hostel chain has designed workation packages that include yoga sessions, bonfires and scuba diving courses. It has developed its technology for the guests at the properties to create a contactless experience.
- Thomas Cook:Travel services company Thomas Cook has introduced workations in a range of short breaks and mid-week escapes starting from Rs 2,299.
The Money Matters in Workation packages
With discounted prices of stays and despite covid fears, The Hosteller made an annual sale of Rs 6 crore with 70 percent occupancy in FY 20. Zostel, after experiencing an almost no-income spell from March to September 2020, has begun seeing some green shoots in November 2020.
Workation – a travel company, is finding that the number of travellers demanding for workation has increased by three times. Piggy Ventures is optimistic about clocking an annual revenue of Rs 1.5 crore in 2021 with this emerging trend.
What lies ahead for the travel and hostel chains in the workation space?
With the workation trend, there will be a revival of the domestic tourism industry which is estimated to be at risk of Rs 15 lakh crore as per Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH). More employees will be opting for workation as exotic work environments tend to uplift the happiness quotient and boosts motivation levels for work.
Hostel chains and travel companies need to take extreme care about sanitised rooms and hygiene. Other essentials like attractive room rates, meals at heavy discounts, innovative recreational activities, strong Wi-Fi connection for zero interruption in work will drive the demand for workation.
