COVID-19 Accelerates 'Contactless' Cultural and Leisure Activities... Changes in How Vacations Are Taken

'Top Priority Criteria for Leisure Activity Companions'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The non-face-to-face consumption of culture and leisure activities among the public is accelerating. The use of annual leave for travel purposes and vacations lasting five days or more decreased compared to last year. This change is due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, announced on the 30th the results of three nationally approved statistics related to culture and leisure in 2021: ▲National Survey on Cultural and Artistic Activities ▲National Leisure Activity Survey ▲Worker Vacation Survey.

Regarding the survey periods for these three statistics, the National Survey on Cultural and Artistic Activities and the National Leisure Activity Survey cover from August 2020 to July 2021, while the Worker Vacation Survey covers January to December 2020. The impact of COVID-19, which began in January last year, is fully reflected in the survey results.

In this survey, the ‘direct attendance rate at cultural and artistic events’ was 33.6%, a decrease of 27 percentage points compared to the previous year. The number of indirect viewings using media was 32.4 times, an increase of 6.8 times from the previous year. The focus of the public’s cultural and artistic enjoyment and leisure activities has shifted to non-face-to-face methods.

'Most Participated Types of Leisure Activities'

Also, due to the influence of COVID-19, our citizens appear to have mainly used their increased leisure time (3.8 hours on weekdays, 5.8 hours on holidays) by utilizing mobile devices (42.8%) or spending time near their homes or in parks (29.5%).

The way vacations are used has also changed. The number of annual leave days and usage rates among workers showed little difference from the previous year. However, the use of annual leave for travel decreased by 11.1 percentage points to 24.2%. The use of annual leave for rest (38.7%) and household chores (22%) increased by about 4 percentage points compared to the previous year. The use of long vacations lasting five days or more decreased by 8.8 percentage points to 9.4%. The proportion of workers taking vacations in August was 16.9%, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points from the previous year, easing the concentration of summer vacations.

An official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, “As shown in this survey, the cultural and leisure activities of our citizens have changed due to COVID-19. The Ministry plans to implement various policies next year to ensure that our citizens can continue their cultural and leisure activities amid these changes.”