All Work and Play: Barbados to allow year-long stay for remote workers as travel resumes

If you had the opportunity to work overlooking some of the best tropical views in the world, would you turn it down or be packing your bags as you rush out the door? Fortunately, this is not a hypothetical question any longer. The Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that her government is considering letting travellers stay and work on the Island of Barbados for an entire year as more and more travel restrictions are being removed.

With the ‘work from home’ culture on the rise, most people are realising that they can work from almost anywhere and honestly, what could be better for inspiration in work than having your toes in the sand and the sound of the ocean to spur you on. Even more so, if there is one take away from the pandemic it is that life is unpredictable and the best way to go about it, is to enjoy every moment of it. After all, how often will you be able to say that your office is a desk under the open sky surrounded by palm trees dancing in the breeze.

The pandemic has changed the demographic of the entire world as we know it, the economy has suffered, many flourishing industries have suddenly lost a lot of business since the lockdown was put into place and people remained indoors during quarantine. The tourism industry also being one that has suffered and in order to bounce back from it, they have had to come up with some pretty creative solutions. Slowly and steadily more places are opening to the public with appropriate safety measures.

Due to its remote location, tourism in Barbados directly provides 12% of their gross domestic product and indirectly contributes to 40% of their economy. This makes tourism its number one private source of jobs and income in Barbados, according to a document published by the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association.

As Barbados prepares for visitors from July 12, there have been many relaxations to the ban on foreign travel. The curfew has been lifted and social events with up to 500 people are being permitted once again while maintaining a physical distance of 3 feet. Whether you are looking to party, work or ideally a bit of both, Barbados offers it all. So, are you ready for a workation to one of the most beautiful places on Earth, because we surely are!

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