Digital nomads bring income to Greece

They are looking for the freedom to live and work from anywhere even while traveling, combining the best balance between work and personal life.

The phenomenon of digital nomads is now treated as an evolving trend in the modern work landscape internationally and in Greece, which was strengthened by the development of technology and also the new landscape as it emerged after the pandemic. In fact, countries and cities around the world are trying to become attractive as destinations to “host” digital nomads, among them Greece, which has shown a particular interest in acquiring its own position as a destination for “digital nomads”, with Athens, according to data from Nomad List, having increased their arrivals between 2017-2021 by 198%.

It’s the future

This trend is here to stay. Moreover, more than half of the participants (53.8%) in a survey conducted by the Digital Nomad Observatory-ENA (July 2022) believe that digital nomads are the future of work, with whatever this may mean for countries or the cities that will attract them.

A study by “MIT Enterprise Forum” reported that if Greece attracted 100,000 “digital nomads” every year, with an average stay of 6 months, the country could benefit with over 1.6 billion euros. This amount corresponds almost to the income generated by a week’s stay of 2.5 million tourists. Therefore, in the possibilities offered by the attraction of digital nomads, the “Digital Nomads” initiative of the Ministry of Tourism was developed in some pilot cities of Greece and, in particular, in Ermoupolis, Heraklion and Kalamata.

A strong incentive in the direction of stimulating the flow of digital nomads to Greece is the digital nomad visa, the establishment of which has placed Greece on the list of countries that offer incentives to become a pole of attraction for high-level workers. With the digital nomad visa, a national entry visa is granted for a period of up to 12 months to self-employed third-country nationals, freelancers or employees, who work remotely using IT and communication technologies with employers or clients outside Greece based on certain criteria. One of the advantages of issuing the digital nomad visa is that the relevant application is made at Greek consulates abroad through one-stop services. An important benefit for the country is that it becomes a pole of attraction for high-level workers, as, according to research, 72% of digital nomads have a bachelor’s degree and 33% a master’s degree.

Destinations

Already, Athens, Thessaloniki, Magnesia, Crete and the Aegean islands are ranked among the areas considered “ready” to host digital nomads as they have the necessary infrastructure and characteristics requested.

However, the survey of the Institute for Alternative Policies (ENA) shows, according to the responses of the participants, that in order to reach digital nomads, Greece should persevere and prioritize Internet infrastructure (31.5%) , a social media campaign (28.3%) to let people know they accept digital nomads, the digital nomad visa (26.8%), implementing less red tape (26%) and a competitive tax system for digital nomads (25.2%).

Regarding the answers given by the digital nomads in the survey about Greece, it appears that one in three has already visited it and the positive fact is that many of them would choose it as a destination country.

The best telecommuting destination in South East Europe

Among Southeast European destinations, Greece leads in terms of cyber security, legal protection, tourist attractiveness and universal health coverage. Greece ranks 32nd worldwide in terms of remote work, according to a new report published by NordLayer. The report assessed a total of 66 countries. Germany is in first place and the top ten are completed by Denmark, USA, Spain, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia, Singapore and France.

Greece is in the middle (32nd) of the Global Remote Work Index (GRWI), but has an excellent score in the area of cyber security (5th). However, economic and social conditions rank low (44th), as does its digital and physical infrastructure (49th). The handling of Covid have not been very favorable parameters for the country and so it remains in the middle (34th) of the ranking. These numbers may be surprising and could be a potential cause for concern in choosing work destinations.

As Greece is one of the most attractive countries for tourism (10th), the cost of living is higher (39th). Although contrary to what one would expect from a country focused on tourism, the safety ranking is quite low (51st). The internet is neither very cheap (59th) nor of high quality (49th), which you would expect from a country with a low ranking in electronic infrastructure (42nd). In terms of health, the country is in the middle of the rankings in relation to Covid management (34th) and vaccination rates (32nd).

However, Greece is considered an ideal destination for remote work in Southeast Europe. Greece looks particularly impressive compared to its closest neighbors: Malta, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria. Greece overtakes them in the overall ranking of GRWI. Malta is six places lower (38th) while Cyprus is two places lower (40th).