Digital nomads are people who work remotely from anywhere thanks to technology. They are often professionals in tech or creative industries and only need a laptop and an internet connection to work. This trend has exploded since the COVID-19 pandemic as remote work has become the new norm. MBO Partners’ 2022 survey found that the number of Americans working this way has increased by 130% compared to 2019, reaching 16.9 million. According to Skift Research, the total financial size of the market for remote workers, or digital nomads, is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion by 2021.
However, this wave of "nomadic" also brings with it many concerns. Large cities such as Lisbon (Portugal) and Mexico City (Mexico), once loved by "nomadic" people, now face negative reactions from residents due to escalating housing prices and cultural changes to serve high-income foreigners.
A breath of fresh air for European countryside
In an effort to ease the burden on big cities and tap into the potential of the new age nomads, many organizations and governments in Europe are implementing projects to attract them to rural areas. Serena Chironna, co-founder of KINO Italy, is one of the pioneers of this movement. KINO is an organization that offers long-term working holidays to “digital nomads” in little-known villages in Italy.
“You can find traditional cooking classes in Italy, but they are often touristy. We went to a senior center where they play cards every day. We cooked and danced together. It was an experience unlike any other cooking class,” Chironna told Conde Nast Traveler.
Rather than focusing on a purely tourist experience, KINO’s program helps digital nomads engage with local communities and create meaningful relationships. The program provides accommodations, co-working spaces, and cultural exchanges. In addition to KINO, other programs with similar goals include the European Union-funded Nomadland project, Germany’s Summer of Pioneers, and a platform promoting 42 villages in Spain.
“Small cities have already seen a significant decline in population and this is a good opportunity to attract human resources,” said Professor Prithwiraj Choudhury of Harvard Business School (USA). He said that programs like this, if implemented properly, can help revive struggling villages and bring about positive changes.
How to embrace "digital nomadism"?
The economic benefits of digital nomads moving to rural areas are clear. These high-income young people not only spend locally, but also promote small business development and inspire local young people with remote work opportunities without leaving their hometowns.
But concerns remain. In Lisbon, as the number of digital nomads surged in 2021, residents voiced their discontent over rising living costs and housing prices, which were pushing locals out of their communities. CNN reported that last November, during the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon, many people took to the streets to protest the government’s policy of attracting high-income remote workers. A similar situation occurred in Mexico City, where local residents staged protests demanding that remote workers leave to ease the pressure on the city.
“Digital nomads are not the only cause, but as remote working becomes mainstream and millions of new people join the community, places like Lisbon will really feel the pressure,” said David Cook, an anthropologist at University College London who has studied “digital nomadism” for nearly a decade. Cook said the phenomenon raises questions about sustainability as big cities continue to attract high-income earners while locals are pressured to leave.
In Europe, new rural projects are hoping to take a different approach to avoid the “nomad overpopulation” that has plagued major cities. “Digital nomadism has received a lot of negative reactions from big cities,” said Drejc Kokosar, co-founder of the ID20 Institute and one of the founders of the Nomadland project. “In rural areas, the situation is a bit different because these are areas that are experiencing depopulation.”
As Europe faces a rural exodus, Kokosar has noticed that few areas are focusing on attracting newcomers to compensate. He believes that if “digital nomadism” programs are built by local communities themselves, they can have real benefits and save villages from being abandoned. That’s why KINO, a project promoted by Nomadland, aims to create lasting bonds between remote workers and local communities.
Before founding KINO, Chironna had traveled to Madeira, a cluster of islands in Portugal that she describes as a “bubble” of digital nomads. She learned from Madeira’s success but wanted to offer something more unique in rural Italy, where nomads could experience life in a completely different way from big cities like Lisbon. According to Chironna, KINO could help local communities realize a more sustainable form of tourism than mass tourism.
David Cook believes that the onus is not only on organisations but also on modern nomads themselves to sustain programmes like KINO. He recommends that they travel and work “consciously and responsibly”, prioritising less crowded destinations over overcrowded ones. “Don’t think that having a strong passport means you can travel freely without having to care about local communities,” Cook stresses.
For digital nomads who want to truly immerse themselves in the local culture, choose villages where people are genuinely welcoming, where you might be invited by grandmothers to enjoy fresh homemade noodles and dance together in cozy evenings.
