Freelancers' Paradise: Barbados Offers Free XNUMX-Year Visa for Remote Workers
'23.07.2020'
Source: Фокус
The island nation is launching a special program for foreigners working remotely. The authorities of Barbados are trying to support the country's economy amid the pandemic, reports Фокус.
The island state of Barbados located in the Caribbean Sea can become a paradise not only for beach lovers, but also for freelancers - programmers, copywriters, people of creative professions. The country's authorities have developed a special program to attract foreigners to Barbados who work remotely via the Internet. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, reports about this, the press service of the government reports.
“You are not obliged to work in Europe, the USA or Latin America if you can come here,” the head of government addressed the freelancers.
The Barbados authorities are ready to provide freelancers with the opportunity to stay on the island for up to 12 months without any problems. The interest in this is obvious: direct revenues of the tourism industry account for 12% of Barbados' GDP, and indirectly, as calculated by the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, all 40%. Tourism gives work to workers of the restaurant, hotel, souvenir, excursion business, transport workers - everyone who somehow works with visitors.
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To date, in Barbados, where only 98 people have been infected with the coronavirus, most of the restrictions associated with the pandemic have been lifted. Sports competitions and mass events of up to 500 participants are allowed, but the requirement to maintain social distance remains. The country opened the borders for foreigners on July 12. At the moment, there are no new cases of coronavirus infection in the country, and 98 of the 90 infected people have recovered.
And the weather is excellent there. You can verify this by looking video beaches in real time.
Until now, the places of the largest concentration of freelancers have been the countries of Southeast Asia: Thailand, Cambodia, India. However, for various reasons, they are in no hurry to open borders for foreigners.
Cambodia, where almost the lowest incidence rates of coronavirus were registered (as of July 13, only 156 cases were detected in the country), is afraid to let in potentially infectious foreigners and has put up a monetary barrier against them. Everyone who arrives in the country must present a negative coronavirus test certificate, health insurance covering costs up to $ 50 and a deposit of $ 3. The deposit is refundable, but not all travelers are ready to pay such an amount one-time.
Thailand is using the pause caused by the quarantine to completely reformat its tourism industry. The government has already announced that from now on it is betting not on poor "backpackers" and package tourists, but on wealthy guests who can leave a decent amount in a hotel or recreation center.
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Thailand's Ministry of Tourism is developing the concept of "tourism bubbles" - regions where resorts, hotels and clubs will operate. Five islands located in the provinces of Phuket, Krabi and Surat Thani will fall into the "bubble", which are already called "luxury ghettos" in advance. The rest of Thailand is expected to be closed to foreign travelers.
Moreover, foreigners on private jets are a priority. According to the Director General of the Thai Civil Aviation Authority Chula Sukmanopa, “many wealthy people escaped the direct impact of the pandemic, but could not come due to restrictions,” and are now ready to fly to the kingdom. “I spoke with private aircraft operators who said they have many potential clients looking to charter a plane to Thailand,” Chula Sukmanop said.
Against the background of the restrictions imposed by other countries, even those traditionally included in the tourism cluster, Barbados' offer looks unique. At the end of May, the world media disseminated information that the Japanese government was allegedly ready, at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, to issue special vouchers to foreigners arriving in the country that would cover travel expenses (up to $ 185 per day). However, the Japan Tourism Agency literally a day later denied this information, clarifying that the Go To Travel program was designed to encourage domestic tourism. So the compensation will only apply to Japanese citizens traveling within the country.
