Workation: Working where others go on holiday – what could be better for a tour operator's job than working from the very destination you want your customers to visit? The perfect opportunity to get to know destinations, without days of unanswered emails collecting in your inbox. This is why we organised the first (but certainly not the last) workation as an alternative to the FAM Trip with our client Visit Levi at the end of January. The perfect addition: the Eurowings direct flight from Düsseldorf to Kittilä.
Between 24 and 31 January, a total of six participants from four companies (three German tour operators and one Dutch tour operator) travelled to Levi in Finnish Lapland. Kirsi Vestenius, International Sales Manager at Visit Levi, was on site to support the tour operators. Unlike our FAM trips, no one from NordicMarketing accompanied the trip.
Our "Workation in Levi" project even made it to the Finnish news. On 26 January, Yle reported on the German and Dutch tour operators in Levi. You can find the story with an interview with Jessica Klauer (Service-Reisen Gießen) here (video is in Finnish).
The term workation is made up of the words "work" and "vacation". During a workation, employees relocate their workplace to a place that turns leisure time into a holiday. Either alone or together with the team, a workation offers the opportunity to gather new impressions, enjoy activities and explore the region. The workation is not a holiday in the traditional meaning of the word, it is more of an "escape from everyday working life". The chance to recharge your batteries in a beautiful place while continuing to work on your projects. The mornings and afternoons are usually used as normal working hours, while after work and at weekends there is time to explore the place you are travelling to.
In addition to working from home and remote work, the concept of "workation" is also becoming increasingly popular among employees. And thanks to growing digitalisation, "working holidays" are also becoming more common in many companies, at least for employees who can complete their tasks independently of being on site. In a study on "Work from Anywhere", 79% of German employees stated that "working from anywhere – including from abroad – would increase their job satisfaction".
There are benefits for both employees and employers. On the one hand, there is a better work-life balance, increased motivation and the creation of positive memories; on the other hand, there is growing employee loyalty, increased attractiveness as an employer and an expression of appreciation towards employees.
While our FAM trips always have a busy programme on site to give participants as many impressions as possible in a short time, the workation programme has been deliberately kept short. Participants should have time to work and discover Levi at their own pace. In addition to the arrival and departure days, the tour operators had six days on site. Three days of the week and Sunday were free, except for a group dinner. On these days the participants could work, hike, ski, visit a spa or gym according to their own schedule.
A joint programme to get to know Levi better was on the agenda for Saturday. Starting with a tour of Levi, lunch together at Restaurant Ämmilä followed by coffee around the campfire with Halipuu. To get an impression of the local accommodation options, various hotels were visited, and the day ended at the Lapland Hotels SnowVillage.
On Monday, the group also started with a joint programme. In order to familiarise interested customers with the Workation concept, Kirsi from Visit Levi showed the participants around the Kohta coworking space in Hotel K5. There you can book a desk in the coworking area or a private office, for example. After lunch together at Hotel K5, the participants had the afternoon to themselves again to work. More information on workation opportunities in Levi can be found here.
During the week in Levi, the participating tour operators were accommodated in apartments, with each company having its own apartment. Each apartment had one or more bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living area and, of course, the opportunity to work. As each apartment had its own kitchenette, the participants were able to prepare their own meals on site – including, of course, the most important working essential: coffee. Before checking into the accommodations, the group first went to the supermarket so that everyone could equip themselves for the week in Levi. As part of the workation, Visit Levi covered the cost of some meals together, while the daily catering was covered at the participants' own cost.