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Having the ability to work remotely due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown restrictions, many people are ditching the Monday blues for blue skies and buffets.
A workcation might sound like a vacation, but with one important caveat — you take your work with you, instead of leaving it behind.
From copywriters to computer programmers, people with online-based jobs are seizing the chance to take their work on their travels.
Workcation is only new in its name but not concept as digital nomads and expatriates have been practicing this pre-COVID-19, it just has now gone mainstream.
What’s more, tourism-dependent countries that were hit hard by the pandemic are taking advantage of the rise in the travel trend by offering extended visas to remote workers in a bid to inject money into their economies.
Several Caribbean destinations’ remote work plans tout features like strong Internet connectivity and stays of up to a year or more.
Aruba’s One Happy workcation programme features a number of work-play packages. Travellers must work for a company or be self-employed in their home country and are not allowed to render services to or receive income from an Aruban company without a separate work permit.
The Bahamas Extended Access Travel Stay (Beats) initiative enables professionals and students to work and study remotely on one of 16 islands for up to a year.
While the One Year Work from Bermuda Certificate enables non-Bermudians to relocate to the island for research, study or work.
Other islands offering remote work-and-stay programmes include Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and The Dominican Republic.
Each island offering a programme has its own requirements in addition to the local COVID-19 entry regulations. Applicants usually have to apply for the programmes, be approved, provide proof of steady income, health insurance and recent negative COVID-19 test results.
Although Jamaica does not offer a destination-wide extended-stay programme, several resorts have their own, including the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Moon Palace, Half Moon, Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara, and Royalton Negril.
Sales manager at the Jamaica Pegasus Maurice Bryan told the Jamaica Observer that the hotel started offering the packages from last year at the onset of the pandemic.
“The hotel industry overall took a really bad hit and so this was just one of the ways that [Pegasus] pivoted to think outside the box and come up with packages that would be attractive for persons who are looking for different options,” he said.
Rates start at US$1,999 for a minimum of a two-week stay in a deluxe one bedroom. A one-month stay in a regular room is for US$3,499, while a deluxe one-bedroom suite is for US$3,999.
The extended-stay packages include taxes and service charges, complimentary daily breakfasts, discounted food and beverages, and access to the hotel’s facilities.
“It has helped our occupancy rate, because if it wasn’t for that I can confidently say we would not have been in a good place throughout the pandemic. The majority of the occupancy are still short-stay guests and have always been, but a couple of long-stay guests are confirmed bookings in the system that you don’t have to fight for the smaller bookings to help make up,” Bryan told the Sunday Finance.
He added that he believes that Jamaica is a prime workcation destination and has the opportunity to tap into this market.
“Jamaica is almost a natural sell for something like this. [It] is already one of those places that is on everyone’s bucket list so its where two worlds meet — you come, you work, and stay in paradise,” he said.
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