Less bureaucracy to attract digital nomads to Italia

"Our country, in terms of quality of life, culture, food and wine traditions and landscapes has enormous attractiveness. Yet it is still largely off the circuits chosen by professionals," Mattei explains. "This is because, to bring them here, a good connection or co-working spaces are not enough: they need an ecosystem of human, physical and digital services that make them feel integrated. Being able to attract them with coherent strategies means bringing skills and experience that are lacking to Italia, generating new economic and social vitality'.

Creating the conditions to seal a community belonging is, therefore, one of the key points. "Especially in the South, where the habit of hospitality is more deeply rooted than elsewhere, hospitality becomes a strong driver of attractiveness. Alongside an accessible lifestyle and a milder climate," adds Marco Traina, founder and ceo of BeetCommunity, a Palermo-based co-living born in 2018 and ceo and co-founder of the Italian Nomad Fest, the first national festival dedicated to digital nomads.

"Administrations must invest in digital nomadism by looking at the opportunities it generates, even net of an initially reduced cash flow: repopulation of areas emptied by the exodus of those who leave in search of a future and potential shield to overtourism. If a foreigner stays longer he or she becomes part of the social fabric, sustains the local economy, the costs of running services go down because they are spread over longer periods, and we do not witness what happened, for example, in Venice or in Barcelona, with historic districts invaded by tourists but abandoned by the natives and turned into shop windows, inflated costs and loss of territorial identity'.

In this framework, Italian fiscal policies remain little incentive. Above all, compared to those launched in the rest of Europe between special visas and economic aid (in Spain, for example, various local governments have activated facilitation programmes: this is the case of Extremadura, which offers up to 15 thousand euros to those who move). "Although with different combinations, most European countries use two ingredients on the tax leverage front: facilitated taxation, if not dedicated, and more streamlined visa applications. However, these are not enough if the procedures are as convoluted as in Italia,' clarifies Federica Origo, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Bergamo. 'More needs to be done on the incentives front. For example by extending support for impatriates and brain return to these equally qualified workers'.

Bureaucracy, therefore, remains one of the most difficult knots to untangle. "Visa procedures should be made more accessible, reducing steps and time, even with online platforms," Mattei concludes. "Then update the rules on rentals: today contracts do not meet medium-term needs and temporary rentals are often limited to specific categories, becoming more of an obstacle than an opportunity. In addition to tax incentives, measures related to quality of life are needed. And to make the phenomenon structural, we need to study an offer that combines rules, services and appropriate housing models'.