US Digital Nomads
WHAT: The number of digital nomads in the US has increased by 49 percent from 2019 (7.3 million ) to 2020 (10.9 million). Since 2005, this group has increased by 140 percent and up to 17 million people have shown in surveys interest in becoming digital nomads in the future. 17 percent of the digital nomads are part of the “van life” movement, 51 percent live in hotels and 16 percent in hostels. As many as 70 percent of American digital nomads travel to five or more countries in one year.
SO WHAT: As the phenomenon of traveling around the world while working remotely becomes more widespread and easily accessible, this should be something that organizations take into account when designing strategies and policies for teleworking or developing their terms of employment, and employee rights. This is also the beginning of a new industry in housing for a target group who want longer stays that are more inclusive in the local community than a traditional hotel, and where the visitor gets the opportunity to experience life as a local. This creates new business opportunities for, for example, the hotel industry or the co-working industry, but also for new types of services that will be needed to meet the needs of the increasing proportion of digital nomads.