The mother proposes a family trip, but the dates of the licenses of its members do not coincide. “It’s okay, mom, I telework”. What long ago would have been a headache of schedules and rescheduling, is now solved by taking work to vacations. This current is not new, but it is much stronger after having traveled through the covid-19 pandemic.
The president of the Chamber of Tourism of Uruguay, Marina Cantera, assured Coffee & Business that although before the pandemic the trend of working from tourist points was outlined, the phenomenon became strong in 2020 when, as a result of the imposition of remote work, many opted for carry out your business or your work in the company from the environment of recreation and rest of the vacations.
In the words of Cantera, when the recovery began to happen around the world in early 2021, many people began to return to their offices, however this trend continued and continues to this day. “They still haven’t returned to face-to-face attendance at all and, in this context, the Information Technology (IT) industry it is the one that is most in line with telecommuting and since to a large extent the companies in the sector are global, many people choose to travel the world, go on vacation or get to know a destination and telework at the same time”. At the same time, it is an area in which salaries are high, so vacationing can be more accessible to them.
“It is a novel current and it is new that it is occurring more intensely in different destinations”, stressed the president of the Chamber of Tourism. Little by little, new forms of tourism or work are being seen. “The working holiday –going to a country to work and walk around– was more common, today this other issue of teleworking is showing a different face”, said Cantera.
The profile of the traveling worker
Undoubtedly, the profile of this tourist is that of a young man. “Millennials are very fond of this type of tourism,” stressed the head of the business union. In addition to being those who are active, they also have the characteristic of being part of the age group not having children. “The ones that move the most are couples without children,” she stressed. This is a new traveler who prefers a longer stay, which coincides with what was experienced in the pandemic, when health obstacles conditioned them. “This is very positive for destinations,” Cantera reaffirmed.
The president of Camtur pointed out that beyond the fact that it is a phenomenon that leads foreigners to get to know Uruguay, there are also many young Uruguayans who have teleworking integrated into their routine. “They understand that it is possible to combine work and fun,” reflected Cantera.
Asked about what these travelers are looking for, Cantera stressed that it is not a single product, as long as the characteristic of connectivity.
Along the same lines, there is no single destination that stands out for those who choose to combine work and vacations, but the most developed in general are: Maldonado, Canelones, Colonia and the hot springs. “Because they have more infrastructure, it is possible that travelers prefer them,” concluded Cantera.
In his vision, Uruguay has a lot to offer in this new trend. “They have to be places where the connections to the (internet) networks are good and in that Uruguay is well above other countries because we have very good connectivity.”
Sales and experiences
Asked about this trend, the person in charge of the marketing team at the Horacio Quiroga Hotel (Salto), Alejandra Safi, explained that the mix between teleworking and vacations is here to stay. “Due to the pandemic, we had to invest in fiber optics because there were many people who stayed both in the hotel rooms and in the cabins,” said the executive.
“Many of these cases are families: while the parents work, the children use the hotel facilities to enjoy themselves,” Safi said. The executive pointed out that there was a case in which a person rented one of the cabins for a month to telework more comfortably.
On the other hand, due to this trend, many establishments included in their advertisements the possibility of teleworking from their facilitiesbesides resting. An example of this is Casa Mara. This inn offers houses both in front of the beach of Punta Colorada and in the Sierras de las Ánimas, where it is offered -as the main differential- to enjoy the contact with the nature.
