The impact of anywhere workers on the sustainable development of tourist destinations and industry: a literature review

Working from anywhere, often associated with digital nomadism, is a growing trend that blurs the boundaries between work and leisure, with individuals choosing to work from attractive tourist destinations. The phenomenon has caught the attention of academics, who mainly focus on the lifestyle aspects of digital nomadism. However, destination management organizations as well as the tourism and hospitality industry, especially in Northern Europe, have been slow to recognize the phenomenon as relevant to tourism. The choice of place is an important factor in the system of anywhere work. When workers choose neither to work at their office nor in their home, they still need to work somewhere. Although defined as “anywhere” workers, or digital “nomads”, their choice is largely based on the importance of being somewhere. In this choice, place matters and so do the services that are offered there. Low living costs and good Wi-Fi connections are not everything. The chapter offers a literature review of the neglected, although very important, perspective of the tourism and hospitality industry response to the increasing numbers of anywhere workers, and how they can adapt to it in order to foster a more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable tourism. This type of visitors, in fact, have the potential to be a low-volume, high-value segment, with longer stays, better integration into the host society, and a more responsible consumer behaviour.