Tim Alpe: LyLo director on the Government relaxing visa requirements to attract digital nomads

Overseas visitors may need an extra nudge to come here, even with relaxed visa requirements aiming to attract digital nomads to spend more.

From today, people on visitor visas can work remotely here for overseas companies.

Accommodation provider LyLo director Tim Alpe says it'll suit foreign tourists - but the challenge is telling them about it. 

"We've got to get out internationally, we've got to go to big trade shows, we've got to be telling people that actually - New Zealand is a great destination for that."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
The other big thing is that Nicola Willis went to
Wellington the airport and said that the government is relaxing
visitor visas to allow tourists to work in the country remotely.
They're called digital nomads and from today visitors who work
for overseas companies can do their remote work while holidaying
here for up to ninety days. The aim of the
government is to get visitors to stay here for longer
and to spend more and they believe there are many,

(00:21):
but they don't know the numbers. Tim Alp is the
managing director of Liiloh, which is a traveler accommodation provider.
He joins, are now hurt, Tim Gay Andrew, how are
you going good? Is this much of a change? Surely
people just bring in their computer and start working anyway,
and we don't know whether they're a digital nomad or not.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, there's definitely the case. We've seen a big spike
in that across our properties post COVID, A lot of
people coming in and we call them pleasure So they
come in and they work for a couple of weeks,
they stay and they look around the city and work
during the day and yeah, so it is there already.
But I definitely think this is a really good move
by the government.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, it makes it legal, it makes it you know,
it's not on the sneaky sneaky. But the question is
will this increase the numbers if we've already got the
numbers doing it?

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, I think it will increase the numbers. I think
there's definitely a desire and if we can get the
word out there globally that you can come to New
Zealand and as you say, you can legally work and
travel and do your work while you're here, I think
that's a great thing. And so I think, yeah, it
will increase the numbers. To what degree we don't know,
but as I said, we're already starting to see it.
We're designing our properties around that so you can work
for wherever you are. And so I definitely think the

(01:25):
days of the old business center in the windowless room
are over, and I think people will actually be able
to work while their travel.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
How would they know, I mean, how are we going
to tell them we're open for digital nomad business.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, that's the biggest challenge I see, Andrew. So I
think you know, touris of New Zealand do a great
job promoting New Zealand on a pretty tight budget. We've
got to get out there. We've changed the working holiday visas,
We've changed this digital nomad's visa. We've done all this
great stuff, but we're nowver to tell the world. So
we've got to get out internationally. We've got to go
to big trade shows. We've got to be telling people
that actually New Zealand is a great destination for that

(02:00):
can come and you can work and travel at the
same time.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
All right, and what we're a what eighty six percent
of what happened before for COVID of wek just from
your own personal position from Lilo. Are our accommodation providers
getting by?

Speaker 1 (02:15):
We need more? Definitely we're getting by, but it's we're
definitely not where we need to be. I mean, I
think the big thing now is we need to get
more events. So things like Luke Comb's or All Blacks
Games and stuff at Eaton Park are huge for the
Auckland market. But I think if we can just keep
focusing on New Zealand should be the biggest export on
a tourism ship for New Zealand. And we said to
keep focusing on promoting ourselves globally turn out.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Managing director of LILO, I thank you for your time.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
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