They are constantly changing countries. They are always thirsty for new experiences and like modern Phileas Fogg aspire to travel the world. If not more and as much as they can. Their basic equipment is their computer. Their dominant asset is their high level of education and their knowledge of foreign languages.
Key issue? Be close to fast internet. If there is this condition everything is going well. Who are these interesting enigmatic types? Those who believe that home is where I lay my head. That is, digital nomads.
Digital nomads are perhaps the most positive product of globalisation. Realizing, from the signs of the times, how outdated the pyramidal stratification is in the creative and business field, they overturn the classic labor rules. Like Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, work from the kitchen of their home. Wherever that is.
In recent years, of course, it is a given that digital nomads are constantly moving. Out of curiosity to see the world but also out of the need to find themselves in environments that stimulate their creativity, they try to find a new Ithaca.
The criteria they set for this new coveted Ithaca are related to the cost of living, the natural beauty, the activities they will be able to perform in their spare time and of course the weather conditions.
Citizens, for instance, from economically strong countries, but with difficult weather conditions,find it easy to move to warm places, even if they are poorer countries with lower living standards. As long as they have a good time its enough for them.
Greece, as the omens show, has been in the last one, one and a half years among the countries with good prospects to welcome digital nomads. Athens in particular looks like a hospitable metropolis that has open arms to all young people and not just keyboard emperors who produce wealth with their digital intellect.
The summer weather, the extroversion, the fact that the country from a black sheep of the EU became a good brand name, the history, the culture, the gastronomy are sufficient guarantees to see them learn the basic Greek as they will order a double greek coffee in Plaka, on the beach of Thessaloniki, in Liston of Corfu or wherever else they want to move.
After all, everyone is fascinated by the idea of working in swimsuits next to a sunny beach than being trapped in a suit in a place where nine months a year icy wind blows.
This trend has also been realized for good by the greek government, which has submitted a relevant draft law of the Ministries of Migration and Asylum and Citizen Protection. This provides for the reform of deportation and return procedures for third-country nationals, attracting investors and digital nomads, issues of residence permits and procedures for granting international protection and other relevant provisions.
Next to this political initiative came Nestpick’s research that reveals that Athens climbs to the 31st place in the list of the 75 most preferred cities in the world to digital nomads.
If we combine all the above, we add the fact that Monocycle magazine – which deals with issues of high quality of life – held its annual conference in Athens considering the rapidly rising metropolis in the EU for the gurus of entrepreneurship who can find and high-level entertainment and entertainment outside working hours then the Greek capital and the country in general is facing a new phenomenon, in front of a new resource.
The concentric circle of all this will be tourism with all that this entails for the promotion of the tourist product or the many and rich gastronomic delights that the greek lands have to offer. So dear co-greeks we have to watch digital nomads like our eyes.