The Rise of The Digital Nomad
Category Trends
[digital nomad]
noun
plural noun: digital nomads
a person who earns a living working online in various locations of their choosing (rather than a fixed business location).
"the ability to travel while still earning a living is my favourite thing about being a digital nomad"
Digital Nomads. The term Digital Nomads was first used in 1997. However, it's not a phrase that most of us would have heard much of until the last few years. Digital Nomads are very much part of the 21st Century, and in particular the last two years. Huge advances in technology and connectivity, alongside shifts in the working environment, more competitive air fares, Airbnb have all aligned to drive the rise in digital nomads worldwide. We live in a new era where the desire, ability and affordability have combined to make travel and work more possible than ever before. The arrival of a global pandemic has also in strange ways accelerated the phenomena which is ultimately a cultural shift in how we perceive the world in which we live and work.
Self-employed entrepreneurs, armed with little more than a laptop, smartphone and travel bag have freedom to locate themselves anywhere in the world that suits them. The connectivity offered in most cities via Wi-fi in cafes, co-working and co-living spaces, shared offices, and a host of virtually any other space you can conceive, makes for a seamless experience. Digital nomads have complete freedom to work in the most flexible way, without the constraints of a daily commute and the 9 to 5 office mode that has dominated the working environment for much of the last one hundred years. The life of a digital nomad is hugely attractive and appealing to many, not least a younger generation that have only ever known a digital/virtual world of computers and mobile phones in their lives.
So, what do digital nomads look for in a location where they can comfortably sit down, flip open their laptop and plug in their smartphone? Key elements that desirable cities worldwide have are good infrastructure, transport links, leisure facilities, affordability, pre-existing expat communities and diversity. Other factors, like warm weather and beaches, also play a part in the tick list. If you can work anywhere, why sit through a cold, dark, wet Northern Hemisphere winter, when you could do the same work sitting overlooking a hot, sunny beach or mountain in the Southern Hemisphere summer?
For all of these reasons, and more, Cape Town has rapidly risen to the top of the digital nomad international chart. The Mother City is well and truly on the radar for those digital nomads that seek the best places to live and work, whether for a few weeks, few months, or longer. Search online for the best cities in the world for digital nomads and Cape Town consistently appears in the top twenty cities. It is proudly up there with the likes of Melbourne, Sydney, Dubai, Lisbon, Taipei, Berlin. In Africa, Cape Town sits at number one, ahead of Marrakech, Nairobi and Zanzibar. At present only ten countries in the world are offering 'remote working visas' geared towards digital nomads. The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government see the importance of this relatively new market for the local economy. Lobbying is evidently underway to ensure that South Africa joins the leading international countries that actively promote themselves to the fast-growing community of remote
workers. Property owners in Cape Town will also see the benefits of the arrival of more digital nomads, most of whom will look for affordable short to medium accommodation solutions. As international, and domestic tourism begins to revive, Airbnb properties are re-emerging in the market place, and a part of their business will undoubtedly be the digital nomads that will, on average, stay longer than the traditional short stay tourists. Cape Town is re-opening for business, and the digital nomads are undoubtedly going to rise in their numbers, choosing our home as theirs too.
Author: Richard Boxford
