The Rise of the Working Vacation
We’ve uncovered some eye-opening stats on the workation trend that’s sweeping the nation. With a massive 75% spike in search interest for “working vacations” over the last five years, more of us are checking into business-ready hotels and logging in from theme parks than ever before.
Whether it’s TikTokers like @themouselets showing off laptop sessions at Connections Café in EPCOT at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida or Redditors comparing the best Wi-Fi spots inside Universal Orlando, the workation is officially having a moment.
Where Are America’s Top Workation Hotspots?
To dig deeper into this growing lifestyle, we ranked the states and cities most embracing of the workation life. To do this, our data experts used Google Trends data to analyze search interest in the term "working vacation" across US states and metropolitan areas. This was combined with hotel data, counting the number of properties per region offering Wi-Fi, business centers, and meeting rooms. Each category was scored and weighted out of 30 total points to determine the final rankings.
Top 5 Workation-Obsessed States
- Georgia and North Carolina – Tied with 25/30
- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and Illinois – Tied with 23/30
- Texas, Tennessee – Tied with 22/30
- Florida, Alabama – Tied with 20/30
- Michigan, California, and Louisiana – Tied 19/30
Most Workation-Ready Metro Areas
- Houston, TX – Score: 21/30
- San Antonio, TX – 13/30
- Gainesville, FL and Austin, TX – Tied with 11/30
- Zanesville, OH – 10/30
- Charlotte, NC and Oklahoma City, OK – Tied with 9/30
Key Takeaways from the Data
- Southern states lead: Georgia and North Carolina top the list, showing that the South is taking the workation trend seriously.
- Florida’s double appearance: Both a top state and city, with more remote workers showing up in Florida’s popular theme parks.
- Texas dominates the metro list: With three cities in the top five, the Lone Star State is clearly catering to digital nomads.
Why Workations Are the Future of Travel
CEO of AttractionTickets.com, Oliver Brendon, spoke on the ‘workcation’ trend:
"We’re seeing a permanent shift in how Americans view travel. Workations aren’t just a novelty anymore, they’re essential to being savvy with vacation day allowances. Travelers are now actively choosing destinations that let them stay productive without giving up on fun, and we’re seeing a knock-on impact on that within our industry. Head to Walt Disney World’s popular Connections Cafe and you’ll see many people working on laptops, enabling them to enjoy the park straight away after their office hours end.
It’s unsurprising that Florida ranks 4th in these rankings to us, but it’s interesting to see the regions that are embracing workationing as the new norm. I predict we’ll see more leading companies in the travel industry beginning to reflect this in package vacations tailored to remote workers, and more specific hotel offers for workationers.”
Planning Your Own Workation?
If you’re dreaming of logging off and heading straight to Space Mountain, you’re not alone. Whether it’s Orlando, LA, or somewhere a bit more offbeat, workations are the modern solution for travellers looking to mix business with pleasure.
Start your workation adventure today at AttractionTickets.com and discover hotel and ticket packages that are remote-worker friendly and 100% fun-approved.
