Opting to work off the beaten path, more and more people across the world have become digital nomads, and many of them are beelining straight for South Africa!
Global (21 June, 2023) — One of the most impactful silver linings of the pandemic was the massive shift that took place in traditional office culture. What started as a necessity became a different way of doing things entirely and for many, a happier way. Soon, working from home became remote work, and remote work became the origin story for digital nomads everywhere.
More and more people began packing up their lives and laptops over the past two years to explore new working spaces around the world—a movement like few others that gave people a chance at beating the rat race and living beyond the water cooler breaks and weekends.
During this movement, South Africa saw a lot of new faces. In 2021, Cape Town was named one of the best cities in the whole world for digital nomads. Now, South Africa has been dubbed a hotspot for the digital explorer, beating out every other African country!
Wait, What is a Digital Nomad?
Like a traditional nomad who wouldn’t set down roots in one place, a digital nomad is someone who exchanges a traditional office for several, often across different cities and countries; travelling from location to location. There’s no one-job title that makes for a digital nomad, either. Everyone from entrepreneurs to writers can join the clan, provided that they have a remote job.
Digital Nomads Make a Beeline for South Africa
According to data collected by resume.io, ‘travelpreneurs’ and digital nomads from all over the world are making a beeline straight for South Africa.
Using social media, they investigated just how many #digitalnomads had ventured South via Instagram, and soon it was discovered that there were plenty of thousands.
According to the data, Cape Town is the digital nomad capital not just of SA, but of Africa entirely, which is a wealth of good news for two main reasons.
1. The Tourism Factor!
Last year, the Tourism Department revealed that tourism contributed more than agriculture to South Africa’s GDP. And, because digital nomads are likely to stay longer than a holiday, this helps boost our economy.
2. The Cultural Exploration Factor
There are few better ways to break stigmas and change narratives about a place than by actually visiting and getting to know them. As more digital nomads explore South Africa, the room to share our culture and break misconceptions becomes even bigger!
by 