"Staying Home During the Holiday"... 5-Day Stay-at-Home Holiday Begins

Survey Results: 3 out of 4 People Say "Will Rest at Home with Family"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] This Chuseok holiday, many people are staying at home instead of visiting their hometowns. Only a small number of people planned to travel during the holiday. The five-day "stay-at-home holiday" began from the 18th through Wednesday the 22nd.

According to a "Chuseok-related survey" conducted by TMON last month with about 600 customers, three out of four respondents said they planned to "rest at home with family during the Chuseok holiday." Only 4% answered that they would travel. This reflects an awareness of the seriousness of the COVID-19 situation and a tendency to refrain from traveling during this holiday period. In fact, 47% said they would not visit their hometowns, nearly half, and 61% expressed that while they understood the sentiment of those visiting for the holiday, they hoped people would refrain from doing so.

There was also a notable trend of spending the holiday only with immediate family members. When asked about holiday plans, more than half (53%) said they would spend Chuseok quietly with immediate family. The response of spending the holiday with extended family and relatives as before was low at 7%. Many believed that the holiday culture itself would change due to COVID-19. Forty-eight percent of respondents said it would change to gatherings only with immediate family. Additionally, 25% thought it would become a rest period for individuals and families. Only 13% said there would be no change.

In a survey on visiting hometowns during Chuseok conducted by the part-time job portal Alba Cheonguk with 1,607 adult men and women, 48.1% said they would not visit their hometowns this holiday. This is an increase of 16.8 percentage points compared to the same survey last year. Plans to visit hometowns also varied depending on vaccination status before the holiday. Among respondents who planned to complete at least one vaccine dose before the holiday, 46.7% said they had no plans to visit their hometowns. Among those planning to get vaccinated after Chuseok or with no vaccination plans, more than half (51.1%) said they would not visit their hometowns. The most common reason for not visiting was "concern about the spread and infection of COVID-19 (49.3%, multiple responses allowed)."

On the other hand, 28.2% said they would visit their hometowns, and there was also a difference depending on vaccination status. Among those planning to complete vaccination before Chuseok, 29.4% said they planned to visit their hometowns, which was 4.0 percentage points higher than those who would not complete vaccination (25.4%).