Smart working travellers. How the hotellerie reacts to the post-covid trend

With smart working becoming more common during the lockdown, the world of tourism is now experiencing the emergence of the concept of workation, a term used to indicate the union between work and vacation. 

The trend observed by CNN Travel fits into this context, according to which, starting from summer 2020, there has been an increasing number of long-term stays. As Andrew Steinberg, Ovation Travel consultant for the Luxury sector, says, this new trend emerges following the state of isolation caused by the global pandemic. In many cases, the newfound freedom to travel must be accompanied by the obligation to work, so that the best option for the smart working traveller is a long stay in locations immersed in open spaces, but at the same time equipped with an Internet connection. 

In front of this new consumer’ s choice, the world of tourism is wondering about the possibility that this new scenario does not simply represent a temporary solution, but a permanent change in the way people travel and work. There are various behaviours adopted by hotels to attract this market segment. 

On the one hand, there are hotels such as the Southampton Inn which, in addition to delivering personalized offers depending on the length of stay, gives its guests the opportunity to access an area equipped with workstations, wi-fi connection and coffee corner. More luxurious resorts, such as Eden Roc Cap Cana, offer extended stay packages that meet the needs of smart working travellers and their families. 

On the other hand, initiatives emerge in the hotel business sector with the aim of rethinking and making the most of the hotel space, which is no longer considered just as a place to stay, instead, it becomes a potential work environment. Important proposals were made by companies such as Best Western Italia and DayBreakHotel.com, in the first case with ad hoc packages for Digital Nomads, in the second case with a platform dedicated to the search for structures with spaces dedicated to smart working. 

At Twissen we observed that the global emergency led to a new way of conceiving times and spaces dedicated to travel and work. In this scenario of transformation of consumer habits, we have seen how the hotel sector is confronted with the opportunity and the necessity to adapt its offer to the new needs of the smart working traveller, for whom the boundary between work and vacation becomes always more blurred. 

Twissen