More Resort Operators Tee Up Digital Nomad Spaces in Low Season

A new operating model is emerging that could give resort operators a chance to recoup losses after their lost summers. They’re being encouraged to tap into the digital nomad market by partnering with established communities, as well as mid-term rental platforms.

Now Austria-based Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences has teamed up with Grabahome, and is looking to fill its properties with remote workers during the low season.

It’s currently conducting a pilot project in Zadar, Croatia, which began on Sunday. The CEO of Grabahome predicts it will catch on throughout Europe.

“We saw the digital nomad village in Madeira in February, and that inspired us to do something in Croatia,” said Mario Mrksa. But he’s calling his version “The Valley,” as he’s thinking of the sort of people who might usually work in Silicon Valley.

“Digital nomads don’t like to be in overcrowded places, so this is the best solution. From October until May, they get more affordable prices, and a more local experience, which is hard during summer,” he added.

Mrksa struck a deal with the hotel, as accommodation rates can fall more than 50 percent during the off season. For longer stays, one week in the new Falkensteiner “valley” now cost from just $150, but nomads are being housed in mobile units, rather than the neighboring hotel rooms — although they do get access to the resort’s facilities. There’s no meals included, but coworking spaces are offered, events are put on, and the services of an on-site community manager are available.

Mainstream Interest 

With summer out of the way, other operators are turning to the model. Tui has just launched its own Workcation packages across Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Croatia, Morocco and Jamaica. “Our workations take your typical nine-to-five away from the office — or your dining room desk — and allow you to work in a holiday destination without taking any annual leave,” it says on its website.

Club Med, part of China’s Fosun group, which owns Thomas Cook, also offers Workation by Club Med at some of its resorts in the Caribbean, Florida and Mexico.

However, Mrksa has warned that it will take more than a swimming pool and hot weather to make these kinds of projects work. “One part is the country’s attractiveness, weather and the lifestyle, but it’s important to have a community as well,” he said. “One of the biggest issues when living this kind of lifestyle is the risk of loneliness. It’s important for most people to have some kind of community in the cities they arrive in.”

While Croatia is a popular nomadic destination, he said the community aspect tailed behind destinations like Portugal. In Zadar’s case, it’s not as well known as Split or Zagreb, so Mrksa is making use of a Facebook group he runs that has 7,000 members, where he organizes meetups and networking events.

It’s off to a good start. Within its first week it received 89 applications from 30 countries, although a third came from the U.S. and UK. “I’m proud to say that we have applicants from all continents,” Mrksa wrote on LinkedIn. The youngest applicant was 22, and the oldest 61. Meanwhile, 59 percent wanted to come alone, 18.5 percent with a partner, and others with family or group of friends. Some 20 percent said they needed help obtaining their digital nomad permit. The plan is to have 30 to 50 nomads staying at any one time.

Mrksa expects the concept to become popular particularly in Europe, which has more defined summer seasons. But operators mustn’t to build that authentic story: “If you just offer a long-term stay, it’s not enough.”

Sidenotes

If airlines thought they had it tough with vaccine mandates, they’ll be relieved to see some of the responses to a survey that asked how company travel buyers were tackling the vaccination-travel dilemma.

From the 65 respondents, 18 percent of the companies polled said vaccination was required. And there’s no evidence of a standard approach, either to travel or enter an office. 

In fact, there’s a bewildering array of methods and processes companies are using for proof. Human resources platform Workday seems to be a common solution, alongside Zedic and Clear. The International Air Transport Association’s Travel Pass also gets a recommendation.  

But for other companies, Zoom and even Google Docs seem to suffice.

“The vax card must be shown to your manager (via Zoom, if remote) or corporate security (at the office) and the information is loaded into an online form (Google doc),” replied one travel buyer to GoldSpring Consulting’s survey.

In one case, the travel department isn’t permitted to ask if an employee is vaccinated. “We ask travelers to self-certify when booking travel that they gave a proof of vaccination to HR,” comes the answer.

Another company goes by “visual validation” as there’s no physical storage of information on computers, “but there is voluntary upload to the human resources repository for vaccination cards.”

Another travel manager said they use TripActions’ option to add the required medical documents securely. One company said it will terminate staff if there’s no vaccination record on the human resources system by Nov. 1 this year.

Others find an honor system does the job. “Not for travel, but to return to the office when it reopens, we are requiring employees to update their Workday profile with their vaccine information. However, it is voluntary, and ‘proof’ is not required at this time. We’re using the honor system for now.”

Another replied: “We are considering a vaccination requirement for travel but will likely work through an honor system.”

The most succinct and honest response, though, is the following: “We are leaving it up to the traveler today. Talk to me in two weeks, maybe I’ll have a different answer :)”

Responses for the Industry Insights Survey were gathered between Oct 1 and Oct 7, 2021.

10-Second Corporate Travel Catch-Up

Who and what Skift has covered over the past week: Accessible travel, Accor, Air India, carbon budgets, Clear, Delta Airlines, easyJet, Four Seasons, Heathrow Airport, Lola, McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, Trump Hotels, Uber. 

In Brief

TripActions Grabs More Money to Grow Corporate T&E Platform

Corporate travel management platform TripActions has raised $275 million. Greenoaks led the round, with other investors including Elad Gil and Base Partners. It will use some of cash to further develop its personal travel booking platform, Lemonade, which the company said had already grown nearly 10 times in booking volume this fiscal year. Extra flexibility for remote employees means there will likely be a rise in so-called bleisure options, so this makes sense. The Palo Alto startup previously raised a $155 million round of financing in January and has raised nearly $1.3 billion in funding to date. The company claims it is now valued at $7.25 billion.