Digital Nomads
TAP INTO A LONG-TERM GUEST COMMUNITY
Imagine letting out your accommodation in the shoulder or low seasons to long-term guests, who are looking for somewhere to work online and explore the country. The pandemic has shifted our work patterns and more people are planning to leave their office behind in search of the perfect life combining travel and work. Steph Curtis-Raleigh explores what this might mean for glamping providers. The nomadic life has always gone hand in hand with tented and temporary structures and like many ancient trends, the term and concept has now been reworked for the digital age. Digital nomads – people who work and travel at the same time – only tethered to a wifi connection – are a new tribe who have increased in number and influence during the pandemic, when we have all been confined to our homes nurturing pent-up dreams of foreign shores. Once international travel opens up once more – these nomads will circle the earth in even greater numbers, creating stronger communities wherever they gather. Savvy accommodation providers are already tapping into this new market – particularly those based in sunny climates, which are particularly attractive all year round. As well as new purpose-built glamping villages for nomads, we are also seeing Spanish villages where villas are let out during the low season rather than lying empty, or hotels offering special nomad packages to fill rooms for longer stays. The Digital Nomad movement is incredibly connected, passing on information on great stays via social media, doing much of the marketing of locations through word of mouth. João (J) Mendes has been a Digital Nomad since 2010 when he left Portugal to live in London. He now organizes online events and provides digital marketing services and is one of the co-organisers of the Eco Hotel Summit events, alongside World of Glamping and International Glamping Business. He says, “From London I jumped over to the Cayman Islands. At first, I was an offline nomad, which meant I looked for in-person, local work. Everything changed in the digital world while living in Brazil in 2014 and I started to teach English online. Since then I have done a myriad of online work, focusing in digital marketing and events.”
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www.glampingbusiness.com
