The One Year Barbados visa for digital nomads earned $6 million for government coffers. After ten months, the project brought at least $100 million worth of tourism revenue in the country, compensating almost $70 million loss from tourism due to the COVID outbreak.
In the past ten months, Barbados received over 2,500 applications from digital nomads and remote workers. The One Year Barbados visa was one of the first programs targeting remote workers to cope with the stop of tourism.
As Peter Thompson, CEO of Remote Work Barbados, states: “The remote work industry in Barbados was announced in July and operationalized in August. So, in 10 months, less than a year, we have already outpaced an industry [cruise tourism] that we have spent countless years and countless public dollars developing.”
Benefits Of The One Year Barbados Visa for Digital Nomads
Nikola Simpson, head of the UNDP accelerator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, explains why the project works well for the country:
Benefits
The extended benefits coming with the visa brought $6 million into the Barbados government’s coffers. Unlike traditional tourism, digital mìnomads stay longer in the same place while working. In this sense, they bring new collaborations and applicants over time.
Clientele
The visa costs between $1,500 and $3,000, requiring a minimum income of $50,000. Because of the pricing, the project targets high professionals and entrepreneurs rather than backpackers. Among digital nomads, most applications came from managerial positions that went remote during the pandemic. For this reason, many of the applicants can fuse money into the local economy through rent, food, and entertainment.
Measuring tourism
In addition, the visa allows digital nomads to stay long-term. This process, in the future, will contribute to creating and increasing long-term tourism too.
Other countries have launched a similar plan to target digital nomads and improve the local economy. The One Year Barbados visa for digital nomads opened the way. Places like Virginia Island, Antigua, and Barbuda lead the way, promoting a new way to compare remote work and leisure.
