Attracted by the sun, sea and fast WiFi, remote workers come together on Europe’s southernmost islands to try “workcationing” before employers send them back to the office, a welcome blessing for ailing tourism companies.
Olga Paul, 34, came to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria for the first time in May to work remotely after cooping up long months of pandemic in her apartment in Munich, where she worked as a business analyst for one of Germany’s largest Automaker operates.
“I think I’m more productive now,” she said, enjoying the ocean view from her roof, where she takes breaks. “I can concentrate on my work and explore the islands on the weekends … it feels great.”
Combining vacation destinations with remote work is a growing trend in Spain and Portugal’s sunniest archipelagos as travel bans ease and the starved tourism industry offers discounted stays and special jobs.
“We have certainly seen growth in the ‘digital nomad’ category, which was important to the tourism sector during the pandemic as it contributed to long-term stays and the local economy,” said Jennifer Iduh, research director at the European Union Tourism Association.
Teleworkers register as tourists, making them difficult to quantify, but evidence of their presence is pervasive, from new co-working spaces to stickers posted in many restaurants, cafes, and bars for free, extra-powerful WiFi advertise.
For the tourism-dependent islands, however, the move is only a slight relief: Spain’s arrivals in the first half of the year were only a third of the 10 million in the same period in 2019.
SURF AND ZOOM
Still, local associations in the Canary Islands or Portugal’s Madeira said the number of people coming to work remotely has increased even in the more expensive peak season.
The website “Nomad List” ranked the Canary Island of Tenerife among the 10 fastest growing destinations for teleworking in the first seven months of 2021 after the trend started last year.
“In the (last) summer I could see that more and more people came not to take vacation or to live permanently, but to work for six weeks, two months, three months,” said Nele Boesmans, a native of Belgium, who on Fuerteventura is the second largest of the Canary Islands.
Boesmans’ membership in the Facebook group “Digital Nomads Fuerteventura” fivefold during the pandemic.
Airlines and rental car websites said bookings from mainland Europe, which skyrocketed last summer, are now skyrocketing.
Flights to the Canary Islands increased 88% between April and July this year compared to the same period in 2020, said low-cost airline Ryanair, while bookings for Tenerife doubled.
The trend should continue, said a Ryanair spokeswoman, noting that sales of one-way tickets to the Canary Islands rose 32% in June from May and 74% from June 2020.
Rental inquiries for more than 15 days in the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Madeira increased by 51% last summer, according to the property portal Idealista, which predicts that bookings will keep pace in 2021.
“I call them corporate nomads,” said Ignacio Rodriguez, who heads a Canarian association for coworking spaces and saw a particular boom in temporary teleworkers, mostly from France.
According to estimates by the Canary Islands Tourist Office, around 8,000 remote workers came in the first half of this year, and another 30,000 are expected in the next 5 years.
In Madeira, the authorities have set up an office to advise teleworkers, which is expecting 500 inquiries – but has received 8,000 since February.
“Hotel managers didn’t know about teleworkers, but now the word is so common for them,” said Micaela Vieira, manager of the Madeira Digital Nomad project.
In the windswept north of Fuerteventura, La Oliva council ran such an impactful campaign that the tiny fishing village of El Cotillo received enough remote workers to warrant a new co-working space called COCO.
Italian-Colombian surfer Matteo Leoni founded COCO after noticing an influx of tourism that neither he nor the slow-moving locals of El Cotillo had seen.
“They were people between the ages of 25 and 45 who worked remotely and came from Madrid, Paris, Rome, Milan and thought: ‘Why not work in a warmer place?’” Said Leoni. “There is so much space in the Canary Islands that social distancing is a given.”
COCO will open in mid-September, with Leoni hoping that 8-10 permanent subscribers will enjoy the quiet areas, the garden, the café and the acoustically insulated cabins.
SPECIAL OFFER
The Spanish airline Iberia has introduced a 10% discount for those who want to make the most of the possible last few months of remote working from a temporary location in the Canary Islands.
With Melia’s “Work in Heaven” campaign, the hotel chains Melia and Vincci are offering discounted package deals for teleworkers who want to stay for several weeks.
“Since the state of emergency (Spain) ended and mobility between regions began, the service has been in greater demand,” Vincci said in an email.
Croatia and Greece also jumped on the bandwagon and developed special visas for sun-hungry remote workers, with Croatia promoting its idyllic landscapes as “your new office” in its advertising campaign.
And around 3,500 people signed up for Dubai’s “Virtual Working” program this year, mostly British, US and Indian visitors, said Issam Kazim, general manager of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Corporation.
“Dubai’s average occupancy in 1-5 star hotels is approaching 60% … is heavily supported by housing … suggesting that people are looking for long-term options, consistent with the decision to work from here,” added Kazim added.
Whether the trend will outlive back-to-office mandates this fall is another question, especially given the success of vaccination campaigns in some regions.
However, some hope to return to the islands – or maybe just stay.
“Everyone I’ve met while trying it out absolutely loves it,” says Alexander Swanton, a freelance US screenwriter who surfs in his spare time in Gran Canaria, where he settled last October after giving up an insurance job.
Joao Santos is also unwilling to give up his beach trips after work. “I won’t be forced into an office again anytime soon,” said the Portuguese web developer, who is working remotely for the first time in Madeira.
Source: Reuters (reporting by Clara-Laeila Laudette and Corina Pons; additional reporting by Lisa Barrington in Dubai; editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
