Italy's new digital nomad visa officially opened for applications on 4 April this year. With the introduction of the new visa scheme, Italy joins over 50 countries that offer digital nomad visas or similar alternatives, including other recent new schemes in Japan and South Korea. This new visa comes just over two years since Italy first introduced new immigration procedures for remote workers in March 2022.

The list of countries offering digital nomad visas is growing. Something that started as a niche visa type to offset weak tourist markets in the wake of the pandemic is now widespread, and is becoming a key tool for attracting skilled workers.  

For workers, the visas allow them to take advantage of the new normal of hybrid working and also connects well with the increasing desire for many people to reprioritise quality of life.

Savills World Research has analysed the top destinations for Executive Nomads for two years and the frontrunners have more that unites them than divides. All top executive nomad locations either have a digital nomad visa programme, or equivalent, or in the case of the US and EU countries, are already part of a large economic bloc that allows free movement of people for living or work.

With the introduction of the digital nomad visa, Italy now has the potential to attract executive nomads to its cities, coasts, and countryside from a wider pool of people based outside of the European Union who are looking to take advantage of all that the country has to offer.

Top destinations for executive nomads tend to be easy-to-access locations that offer an attractive climate, quality of life and super-fast Wi-Fi. Connectivity, both physical and digital, is essential. The availability and affordability of prime rental property is also key.

In the 2023 edition of Executive Nomads, Tuscany scores highly for quality of life. The region is among several established leisure locations which featured in the index, along with the Algarve and the Cote d’Azur.

Within Tuscany, Florence is one of the top markets for potential executive nomads. Over the course of 2023, prime rents in the city increased 4.0% and have grown 6.4% since 2019. However, the city remains competitively priced compared to other markets. With the introduction of the digital nomad visa in Italy, it stands to reason that the market has the potential to attract more executive nomads from across the globe to its prime residential property.

Given the higher interest rate environment, we expect that some would-be buyers will continue to turn to the prime rental markets. Coupled with potential increases in the number of executive nomads, it is likely that there will continue to be upward pressure on prime rental prices across many markets in 2024.

Over the coming months and years, it is also likely that more countries will implement similar digital nomad policies in an attempt to lure workers to their markets. Nations which have proposed similar schemes but have yet to implement them include Andorra, Montenegro, Argentina, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Such a wide variety of locations proposing digital nomad schemes shows that the future of ‘work from anywhere’ can truly be found anywhere.