OUT of Airbnb’s list of 20 destinations in its Live and Work Anywhere initiative, only two in Asia made the cut – Bali, Indonesia and Thailand.
The choice of Bali and Thailand in Asia is not surprising – these are the two places that consistently make it to the many lists of top places for digital nomads out there.
The other 18 are Baja California Sur, Mexico; Brindisi, Puglia, Italy; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caribbean; Canary Islands, Spain; Cape Town, South Africa; Colombia, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; Malta; Mexico City, Mexico; Palm Springs, California, USA; Queensland, Australia; Rural France; Salzkammergut, Austria; Tampa Bay, Florida, USA and Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
These are the 20 destinations in which Airbnb says it will partner with DMOs “to make it easier to live and work anywhere” under its Live and Work Anywhere initiative.
It says, “Over the next few months, we will work closely with each organisation to create dedicated custom-built hubs for their destination, showcasing the best of local long-term stay listings as well as important information relating to entry requirements and tax policies. We will also partner with destinations on educational campaigns to promote responsible hosting and traveling as a remote worker. The destination hubs are expected to launch later in the year.
“Destinations range from whole countries to smaller, lesser known towns and were selected based on their attraction to remote workers and progressiveness in evolving policies for those looking to live and work in a different region and attract a new type of traveler.”
It cited its own data. “About one in five guests reported using Airbnb to work remotely while traveling in 2021, a trend that has continued into Q1 2022, with long-term stays at an all-time high, more than doubling in size from Q1 2019. They are essentially “living” on Airbnb as guests have already planned stays in over 72,000 cities and towns this summer.”
It said that since co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky told employees they could work from anywhere, “we received more than 1 million visitors to our career page – reinforcing the appetite people have to live and work anywhere.”
Speaking about lists, four cities in Asia are among the 10 most expensive places for expatriates this year, according to the Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living index. The report, which highlights the impact of rising living costs and worsening macroeconomic trends on the expatriate market, puts Hong Kong on top. Singapore, Tokyo and Beijing closed off the list at eighth, ninth and tenth position respectively.
Switzerland took the second to fifth spots with Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Bern respectively, followed by Tel Aviv, Israel and New York City.
Featured image: Photo credit, Airbnb
