Why your guesthouse is not a coliving and coworking space

This goes out to the many guest house, hotel boutique, bungalow, holiday villa, hostel and whatever not owners and managers. Well and to the rest of you, too.

 

I hear you. 2020, the corona pandemic has hit you hard. Many of us had been affected in a way that we had to reiterate many things in life. And of course, so did you, dear owners and managers of your according property. And it’s more than appreciable that you are making an effort to look out for new opportunities during these times instead of simply resigning.

 

This is one of the best times to do so actually.

 

THE CHANGE IN TOURISM WITH THE EMERGENCE OF MOBILE WORKERS

I’ve been recently contacted more and more by different people who are in the tourism sector, who are in charge of an above mentioned property. They got in touch with me because they had discovered those “digital nomads” as a new target group.

 

So far, so creative.

 

Fair enough because digital nomads, mobile workers, location independent people (I still need to find the right term for me here) were and are those people during the pandemic who were still kind of traveling around. Kind of. And on top of this are these people who not only staying for their 10 days holidays but more often than not for weeks or even months!

 

 

Yes, the pandemic also made those people moving around less than usual, so once they got to a place they were actually more likely to stay.

 

In the emails and messages that I got the property owners and managers were asking me for tips, for collaboration, for listing their property in our Economadia list with the most interesting rural coworking and coliving projects (which you get access to when you sign up for our newsletter).

 

Digital nomads are not classic tourist but more often than not stay for weeks or even months

 

When I checked out their properties I was quite surprised that they thought that I could really help them. Again, I understand that in such a situation you might simply try everything that pops up on your screen. Nothing to lose, right?

 

I was proposed hostels located right at the beach with a swimming pool a few meters away from the ocean waves. Nice – but nothing that would comply with the foundations of Economadia. I got suggested guests houses which looked really nice – but hey, they were holiday homes and not made for our beloved target group digital nomads.

 

 

WHAT LOCATION INDEPENDENT PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY REALLY LOOKING FOR

Okay, let’s get this straight: for some mobile workers those touristy places are certainly a nice thing. Instead of working from home in grey London or Berlin they can work from sunny Greece or Portugal – who would say no?

Grab yourself a virtual cocktail, cheers!

 

However, as to my understanding and to my experiences, well and to my personal preference, those places are nothing that I would call a coworking and coliving project. And lot less are they falling into the category of “rural” which is an integral part of the Economadia foundation just because they are located in a little (former) fisher village of Portugal or in a smaller town on a Greek island.

 

“What the flick were they thinking of calling themselves a coworking and coliving place?” I was thinking to myself.

 

Okay, why did I get upset here, what triggered me?

 

Let me get you the essence of what I want to tell you here. If you fully understood that, you don’t need to read this article until the end anymore…

 

• You don’t have a veritable coworking and coliving project just because you just discovered and tried to switch over to this target group.
• Your former food court which you hastily converted into a “coworking space” with a few more extension cables is not a coworking space.

• Your apartment units which are made for individually or in couples traveling tourists are not what you can call a coliving.

 

And the main reason is: There is no community!!

 

Need to hear it in a block quote again? There is no community!!

 

YEP, EXACTLY THAT!

Again, I might be biased and this is of course a subjective personal view here. But let me talk for Economadia minded people.

 

I would never go to a hotel by myself just because they have an incredible bargain for digital nomads in offer. I want to make sure that I meet like-minded people who are looking for community, exchange, companionship.

 

Okay, let me depict here what are the differences, you really should see it.

 

 

Need another example? I am not running short on it for sure!

 

 

It was actually a good revision for me what Economadia is supposed to stand for.

 

The vision and higher goal are global regenerative villages where location independent people are embedded in a progressive and proactive entrepreneurial community. Where the place is designed to meet and exchange with other people, where the threshold of getting in touch with one another is much lower than in our standard tourist places.

 

A place for people that want to meet other people while still having their private space. The discussion about how much private space and how much should be common space is an exciting one for sure. I will go more into detail in another blog post.

 

What people are craving for connection, for social interaction, for exchange of inspiring ideas.

 

That’s the language coliving and coworking projects need to speak.

Well, what do you think?

 

 

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