With the End of the Pandemic in Sight, the Army of Digital Nomads Is Growing

The surprising resilience of the digital nomad and the coming work-from-abroad boom

Digital nomads offline at Outsite Costa Rica. Photo: Outsite

For more than a year, the travel and hospitality sector has been absolutely wrecked by the Covid-19 pandemic. With many countries’ borders effectively closed, international travel has been especially hard hit. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, international tourist arrivals in 2020 were down 79% compared to 2019. Some 120 million tourism jobs have been put at risk, with the economic damage likely to exceed $1 trillion in 2020 alone. But one niche of the industry has, despite it all, not only held strong but seems poised for a major post-pandemic comeback: the network of Instagram-centric co-living/co-working brands that cater to the “digital nomad” set.

With Europe largely off-limits to North American travelers, places like Mexico and Costa Rica, with less-strict entry requirements, are where you’re most likely to see Americans Insta-bragging from.

While some people spent the past year curled up in an overpriced apartment, a Covid-flouting contingent of “location-independent…