Photography: RR
Recently, online newspaper Observador published an opinion article entitled “Co-living, dinosaurs and surfing in Ericeira: what drives digital nomads?”, written by John Rowlands – the author of this text is Valuation and Advisory Associate Director at CBRE Portugal, one of the largest US commercial real estate services companies in the world, working with ownersm and investors.
In this article, Rowlands comments on how the world is changing from the point of view of work and real estate, starting by asking what Mercedes, Tyson Foods (a US food company) and Farfetch (an online luxury fashion giant) have in common. The answer is the 300 days of sunshine that Portugal offers, its cosmopolitan population and the beaches and cities… All this and much more makes up a list of reasons to attract a digital nomad to work in Portugal.
Ericeira ranks 20th among the world’s best destinations for digital nomads
In this context, the Director of International Business mentions that the Nomadlist.com portal has created a list, in which it places Lisbon in second place as the world’s best destination for digital nomads, only behind Ko Pra Ngan, in Thailand. This list includes some of the most popular destinations, with Ericeira in the 20th position.
But what conditions are digital nomads looking for in destinations like the fishing village? Rowlands answers this question, arguing that this is “a community that is driven by experiences and has less and less interest in a formal model from 9 am to 6 pm” and that “surfing in Ericeira in the Summer and taking advantage of the winters to do yoga with a view to Bali’s rice fields seem to be what really motivates this generation, while the climb up organizations ladder has clearly lost value”, highlighting the importance of co-living, a concept that, according to Rowlands, was born as a result of several changes at a global level in the way we live and work.
The author also explains that, for all this dynamic to work, co-living projects aimed at digital nomads must be more than just four walls, a door and a window, and must offer a sense of community, flexibility and well-being that guarantee not only privacy but also integration as basis for the success of a space of this quality.
Rowland concludes that, with the world changing, ways of thinking and working also change, while new opportunities arise and develop, arguing that Portugal has excellent conditions “to capture the full potential of the co-living sector” and promote an up-to-date and realistic concept, conceived in the light of “community” and “flexibility”.
Portugal meets all the conditions to capture the full potential of the co-living sector
Ericeira has an identity and historical importance, a vast number of communities, including digital nomads, a World Surfing Reserve that attracts more and more tourists and new residents and a rich local culture, always in an evolving process.
You can find the original article here.
Esta publicação também está disponível em | This article is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)
