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<\/a><\/p>\nThailand began experimenting early in the pandemic with programs designed to attract longer-term travellers, such as golf-course quarantines and \u201csandbox\u201d arrangements. The country got about one-fifth of its economic juice from tourism before Covid-19 arrived.<\/p>\n
Now, in the spirit of targeting more digital nomads and business-leisure travellers, the government has approved tax incentives for long-term visa holders and will lift all remaining Covid-related entry restrictions from July 1.<\/p>\n
The country has several plus points for longer-term visitors who also plan to work, according to tourism minister Phipat Ratchakitprakarn. \u201cThe Internet in Bangkok and in many big cities is fast,\u201d he said, while Thailand also offers \u201cservice and atmosphere\u201d and a relatively low cost of living.<\/p>\n
And, he added, \u201cwe don\u2019t tax digital nomads. Their income is generated overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next round of tax changes can\u2019t come soon enough for the country\u2019s still-struggling hospitality industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure we can compete in terms of fundamentals but the problem is policy implementation,\u201d said Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association. He argues that a simple visa application process is needed to attract working travellers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey won\u2019t come if they need to fill up a pile of paperwork,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Longer-term visitors may bring economic benefits, but they can also create problems for the local population, a Migration Policy Institute report points out. Wealthy visitors bring with them rising costs of living, increasing competition for resources and associated tensions \u201cas evidenced in existing hotspots such as Goa and Bali.\u201d<\/p>\n
While governments face a hefty set of challenges in marrying a tourism revival with ease of doing business, companies have their own list of concerns.<\/p>\n
At established firms, chief financial officers often have little appetite for Airbnb-style worker freedom because of tax issues and other liabilities, according to Simon Hayes, director of the Asia CFO Network.<\/p>\n
Yet many business leaders are accepting what their human resources departments already know: Most employers will be forced to keep up with the times.<\/p>\n
Business-leisure travellers aside, tight labour markets around the world are giving workers the power to demand more flexibility. Over the next three to six months, Hayes expects more companies to set up remote-work options for those employees who are trusted to get their jobs done on the beach or elsewhere.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a clear willingness to at least consider looser policies around remote work, according to an Asia CFO Network survey of 31 multinational companies across the Asia-Pacific region. But there are also significant concerns, with tax issues and \u201ccorporate culture dilution\u201d at the top of the list.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne issue is navigating the tax, social security, and employment and labour provisions of both countries to ensure compliance in both locations,\u201d said MPI\u2019s Hooper. Another is the risk of triggering permanent establishment rules that may incur corporate tax obligations, she said.<\/p>\n
While business-leisure travel isn\u2019t about to overtake other types of travel, it\u2019s still an opportunity for tourism-heavy economies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a growing segment but will remain a \u2018niche\u2019 segment,\u201d said Margaux Constantin, a partner at McKinsey & Co who leads the firm\u2019s work in tourism. The potential for high spending on longer-than-average trips makes business-leisure travellers an attractive market, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising to see that some destinations are actively prioritizing this segment as part of their tourism strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nRead: Top business leaders are looking at a four-day work week \u2013 and permanent hybrid working<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the new world of work, there\u2019s a new type of employee: The business-leisure traveler.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":601598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,7045,6118],"class_list":["post-601578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-headline","tag-mckinsey-co","tag-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601578"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":602492,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601578\/revisions\/602492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}