Why remote workers are important to tourism post-pandemic
So during a typical year, my head is pretty much into the next year by the end of November. And to be honest, it’s actually no different right now. In previous years, I’ve been thinking about what’s next for content creation, health (anyone remember #NewYearNewMe?!) and what is going to be good for uni students next. This year, as mentally uncomfortable as it has been, I’m taking a step back and checking in with some passions of mine. Which this year includes deep diving into remote working.
For some context, I got my first taste of remote working when I missed a flight from São Paulo to Florianópolis. I was travelling back for the second semester of my year abroad and having to wait with my two suitcases of stuff meant I couldn’t hop on a train to the city centre for my six hour wait - and I don’t think there were lockers at the time. So I pitched up in a coffee shop and opened my laptop, thinking I would try and get some dissertation (thesis) work done. Long story short, I discovered I could log on to the slow, but public wifi at the time and so got a bit more work done than I thought I would. This began my interest in being able to set up and work from wherever I wanted ie remote working.
Then in 2016, I began a contract researching the “digital nomadism” movement, a small hipster movement at the time. A movement that was particularly up and coming in London at the time, where people would actually set up in cafes with their laptops and teams. Taking their meetings while the coffee machines were whirring and jazz music played with multiple other remote workers. It was a new and exciting world that I was super keen to become a part of.
Through the years I then had multiple opportunities to check out different locations throughout (mostly) London from Covent Garden to Hackney to Elephant & Castle to Camden. In doing so I also got to meet some fabulous people that I still keep in contact with! It gave me an opportunity to be in multiple creative spaces open to mad minds like mine with similar creative peeps.
But it didn't stop in London, I then became obsessed with finding these pockets of creatives abroad. So began the Busy Guide series, which would often include finding coffee shops and co-work spaces all the way from New York to Canggu. Having worked in property PR, I knew this new way of working was changing the way we worked and interacted with the world. Gone were the days that we travelled to the same grey office building in central cities and beginning, were the days where you started the day with a coffee in one place, finishing the day with a glass of wine elsewhere.
Now, a near year of full time working from home weeks and Zoom call meetings (which in turn save companies so much money), I seriously think this has completely altered the way many of us will continue to work. Gone are the days when many will commute full time when they know the sort of time they can get back with their families - and the money! Plus, for some industries, remote working is actually going to be a contributing factor to getting them on track again.
An interesting article by El País was released early this month about how remote workers will help the travel industry in the post-pandemic world. And this is why I agree:
Slow travel: while there might be a spike in getaways initially, so many people have taken hits this year. Whether financial or health-related. So the regular travellers will probably be cautious in getting back out on the road for various reasons. I believe there won’t be many people booking quick getaways and if they are, they’ll likely be looking closer to home for safety.
Remote workers however, will be looking at long term living plans. Staying in places for weeks and months at a time and looking for ways to entertain themselves at the weekend. I believe there is an assumption that remote workers and digital nomads don’t necessarily want to see the sites on offer, but I believe it’s far from this. The idea behind slower travel is to be able to take in as many sites as possible, so why not reach out to remote workers? Who will then, in turn spread the word amongst themselves and across their own platforms.Local travel: which leads nicely into the next point. For the individuals who are looking to stay somewhere longer, such as remote workers, they’ll be much more inclined to explore that much more of a destination. Namely more local hot spots, as they will have that much more time to do so - and likely a developed interest. For example, due to the languages I speak, I am much more interested in discovering the local parts of Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. It can most definitely be a fantastic pairing for tourism boards as the interest in the destination goes that much deeper.
Fresh perspective: we’ve seen many of the same shots by quick visitors to locations, *cough* see my Bali Instagram Tour post *cough*, but what about the generally more considered views of places by semi-locals? From the people who will be in the destination a little longer - and so therefore able to potentially revisit and plan for a bit more time. One thing I definitely didn’t have in Canggu was time. Time to check out different angles of Bali, check out the less touristy spots that were not so easily searchable on Instagram and Trip Advisor. Time to spend more time with other remote workers who had already been to these places - but I then saw plenty of on their feeds later.
And wouldn’t it be great to see more of these destinations through different eyes? Not everyone wants to see the romantic - and at times dangerous - side of things. They’d like to see what is available to explore outside of the 9 to 5 and maybe a little more relatable?
But those are just my thoughts - and I’ll be curious to see how insta-worthy content develops as we go out into the post-pandemic world. Will we still be looking for that perfect look? After a year being comfortable in without make up and filters?
Certainly though, I do think that remote workers will be a key way for tourism boards to bring their message to people again, at least initially. They already are out in the world and I imagine more will follow ie as the UK opens its borders again in December. They’ll be the “forerunners” if you will and a way for their audiences to follow (including family and friends).
As we’ve seen this year, we’ve had a lot of time to think and research about where we want to go next. For some people it’ll be finally get to those bucket list destinations, others it will be their next home, but either way I imagine travel will be much more considered for the first six months of 2021. (And of course, fingers crossed there are no more lockdowns - but only Christmas will tell I suppose…).
I’d love to know your thoughts though!
Han x
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