Remote workers gain a new long-term tourism opportunity

With the rise of remote work enabling many people to spend longer periods of time abroad than a traditional vacation would permit, numerous countries have jumped at the opportunity to welcome long-term visitors.

The digital nomad visa, which allows foreign citizens to stay more than the three or six months typically afforded to tourists while sustaining themselves on income from their home country, was initially launched with countries looking to boost their tourism industries and bring in high-spending visitors from abroad.

Over the last decade, even nations with strong economies saw the benefits and came onboard. Japan, South Korea and Italy are all among the list of countries that either launched or expanded such programs in 2024.

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A man is seen working remotely from home. New Zealand has joined other countries in welcoming digital nomads.
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New Zealand calls digital nomads a 'brand-new market of tourist'

The latest country to slacken rules for the digital nomad is New Zealand. In an effort to boost its tourism sector (international arrivals are still at 89% of what they were before the pre-pandemic lockdowns in 2019), the country will allow those in the country to spend up to 90 days working for a foreign employer.

Different from a traditional digital nomad visa in which one proves remote source of income and is given a visa to stay longer than what is assigned to tourists, New Zealand's move does not change the period given to tourists with which it has a visa-free agreement but officially makes it legal for them to work remotely.

"This is a brand-new market of tourist New Zealand can tap into," New Zealand Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said at a Jan. 27 press conference. "We want people to see our country as the ideal place to visit and work while they do it."

For those who have a visa or are able to stay the 90 days given to Americans (Canadian and British citizens get six months per visit), working would still require a change of visa and tax status as a local resident; the new program really targets those who want to stay longer than a few weeks but would not be able to afford this without doing some remote work.

Government hopes to 'put New Zealand boldly on the map'

"The government's ambition is that new visa rules will put New Zealand boldly on the map as a welcoming haven for the world's talent," Nicola Willis, the country's Minister of Economic Growth, said in a statement. "We hope that in some cases, it will encourage those people and the firms they represent to consider doing more business with New Zealand in the future."

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But despite such bold statements, New Zealand has also recently raised the tax it charges international arrivals to the country from NZ$35 (roughly $20 USD) to NZ$100 (roughly $57 USD).

The steep increase was justified as needed to mitigate the "costs to local communities, including additional pressure on regional infrastructure and higher upkeep and maintenance costs across our conservation estate" exacerbated by high tourism numbers.

The government further said that the fee ends up totaling to "less than 3%" of what visitors who have already made the choice to come to New Zealand end up spending and is "unlikely to have a significant impact on visitor numbers."

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