Digital nomads

Talking about tourism, our usual pitches are in our traditional strengths like long stretches of beaches, world renowned Filipino hospitality and English proficiency.

However, there is an emerging market that needs to be looked into. A sector that we can comfortably embrace and make headways in the long run. They are the “digital nomads.”  While something new to most of us, they’ve already existed in the mid-1980s. According to Wikipedia, “one of the first digital nomads was Steven K. Roberts, who from 1991 rode more than 10,000 miles across America on a computerized recumbent bicycle equipped with amateur radio and other equipment that allowed him to talk, type and work on the move during the day before camping at night.”

As technology advances and working remotely becomes handy, millions have joined and have created a lot of opportunities for countries they want to settle into. This time though, they are no longer moving every day and camping at night but staying in a country or locality even for a year.

Today, according to VisaGuide.World, an online free information guide to worldwide visas, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines joined a list of the world's top 40 countries for digital nomads. Thailand ranked 31st, closely followed by Malaysia at 32nd and us, the Philippines, at 36th. The main draws in this ranking are internet speed, taxation policies and tax-free length, income requirements for visa applications, cost of living, healthcare service and tourism popularity.

If there is something we have to learn in the result, it is our English proficiency. That it isn’t a major factor at all. Only few Thais speak the language, yet, they are way ahead of us. Why? They scored big in internet speed, quality of healthcare service and tourism popularity.  On the other hand, we, like the English-proficient Malaysia are lagging behind because we both scored high only in our cost of living. Obviously, therefore, in this market, English-proficiency is a non-factor.

Moreover, it seems that Thailand is always way ahead of us in several aspects. Today, our lawmakers are still deliberating on Sen. Joel Villanueva’s Senate Bill No. 2991, the "Digital Nomad Visa Act," which would allow foreign nationals to work remotely from the Philippines for up to one year, with the possibility of renewal. Last year, Thailand already launched the Destination Thailand Visa “which allows digital nomads to stay for up to 180 days and is valid for five years.”

Also, while the bill is still to be approved and the visa fees and charges shall be set by the Bureau of Immigration right after, that of Thailand sets the “visa application fee at 10,000 baht (US$283) and applicants are required to have a minimum financial capacity of 500,000 baht.”

To us, much has yet to be done.  However, it will be all worthwhile. Why? According to The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Nomad List, we ranked as the 7th fastest-growing remote work hub in 2023. More importantly, we are staring at a potential market whose benefits to the country can translate into billions of dollars annually.

According to the 2023 Digital Nomads Report: Nomadism Enters the Mainstream - MBO Partners - the number of digital nomads in the US alone is continually rising.   Thanks to the pandemic, there was a 49% increase in 2020. That’s from 7.3 million in 2019 to 10.19 million in 2020. Moreover, it grew by 42% reaching 15.5 million in 2021 and rose to 16.9 million in 2022. Remember, that’s for the Americans alone. As of 2024, there were around 35 million digital nomads worldwide. The good thing is, it is growing by the day.

Consequently, expect that the empty condominium units vacated by the POGO workers will be filled soon. Moreover, expect restaurants and coffee shops that were left orphaned by these workers to embrace a more decent group of professionals.

Undeniably, there are two key takeaways from this development.  First, that the market is there, it is huge and is growing. Secondly, that Thailand is way ahead because its enabling laws are already in place.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to pass Senate Bill No. 2991, the "Digital Nomad Visa Act," as soon as possible. Also, the government must urged telco operators to enhance connectivity throughout the country so that the countryside may also benefit from this positive development.

Remember, this potential market is knowledgeable enough to know where to go.  Without doing an honest assessment of our real worth or capabilities, we will only end up salivating while staring at a huge market that we can’t fully tap.