This feature is a collaboration with Saltwater Nomads and Central Istria Tourism Board.
Central Istria is a region in the western part of Croatia that is known for its beautiful landscape and rich history. The region is located along the coast of the Adriatic Sea and is home to a number of charming towns and villages, each with its own unique character.
Croatia itself is known worldwide as a sunny tourist destination (and at the time of this writing, aspiring World Cup 2022 champion), with many famous beaches, islands, and ports along its Adriatic coastline.
Digital Nomads in Residence ("DNIR") week has been running from December 7th to December 14th this week in the region of Central Istria, an up-and-coming region with a pitch to remote workers and digital nomads that comes in the form of 'counter-programming' to typical December destinations.
Collective wisdom is that the northern hemisphere remote workers tend to act like snowbirds and seek out warm-weather destinations in the winter.
This presents a challenge for countries like Croatia, which have built both a decades-old tourism market (and nascent remote work market) around a summer high season, a more sparsely populated shoulder season in the fall, and a winter season that is extremely quiet — the tourism industry effectively shuts down in the winter, relative to summer months.
Tanja Polegubic and Saltwater Nomads, a Croatia-based remote work consultancy, are following up their 2021 DNIR program (held in Dubrovnik) with a 2022 program that brings nomads together in a unique destination.
In the words of the official website, the week-long program aims to "bring together a group of remote professionals (aka digital nomads) to co-create a strategy for destinations who wish to embark upon or enhance their tourism offer for remote workers."
Meet the speakers
The nomads in attendance have already heard from wonderful speakers on a variety of topics. In the coming days, we will recap some of the most engaging sessions of the week.
A selection of sessions that have already taken place includes:
- December 7th - Rural and Off-Season Nomadism
- December 7th - Meet the DN-I-Rs (Digital Nomads in Residence)
- December 9th - Destination Management Scotland Case Study: Yvonne Wagoun of White Stag Tourism
- December 9th - (Virtual) Food Storytelling with Emma Bickley of Photo Before We Eat
- December 9th (Virtual) Scotland Food & Drink Ambassador Jemma Reid
Jenni Carbins
Founded specialist placemaking agency Mark London in 2013 to focus on sustainable urban regeneration by delivering innovative social and commercial solutions to showcase the best version of a place’s identity. Site-specific activation may include meanwhile uses, culture, art & design, leisure, community & education, science, tech & innovation, sport, health & wellbeing and sustainability. Jenni was part of the program team in the first DN-I-R in Dubrovnik in 2021.
Mita Carriman — Founder & CEO of Adventurely
(backed by Backstage Capital & Google for Startups)
A company on a mission to connect digital nomads to each other & their new local communities with thoughtfulness around sustainability & local impact in mind.
Originally an Entertainment & IP attorney from New York City- Mita spent 5 years traveling the world as a full-time digital nomad while working remotely across 15 countries, 26 cities & 50+ Airbnbs. It was through her experiences as a digital nomad that she was left compelled with inspiration as an Entrepreneur to build products & services to serve the digital nomad space.
Mita firmly believes that the future of work is inextricably tied to the future of travel, and she is a remote work advocate.
Jess Romano - Panel Moderator
Jess has over a dozen years of strategy, partnerships, business development, and commercial management experience. Her functional expertise includes launching new products and services, building durable partnerships with clients and vendors, and advocating company missions. Jess’s subject matter expertise include global employment (HR Tech) & remote work, fintech and banking ecosystem, data infrastructure, APIs, collaboration platforms & payments. She has held high-impact positions at growth-stage fintech startups (Series A-D, $1-13B+) as well as large-scale finance and technology firms.
Today, Jess is the Director of Partnerships & Strategy at Oyster, the global employment platform enabling clients everywhere to hire talent anywhere. She was recently featured by the New York Times for evolving her career & lifestyle during the shift from in-office to remote work.
Jess holds a BSc in Global Management, Finance and Marketing from Binghamton University
in New York and studied Spanish Language and Literature at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain. She lived in New York City and San Francisco prior to relocating to Europe in 2020. Jess has a passion for culture and meeting new people and has visited more than 55 countries in the last 15 years. In 2018, she backpacked throughout Asia and launched a travel blog, Tales Traversed. She enjoys getting involved with local communities through volunteering, and other interests include hospitality, health & wellness, cooking, writing, and photography.
More on Central Istria
One of the most popular destinations in Central Istria is the town of Poreč, which is known for its stunning beaches and vibrant nightlife. The town's main attraction is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Euphrasian Basilica, which is a beautifully preserved early Byzantine church. Poreč is also home to a number of other historical sights, such as the Temple of Neptune and the Round Tower, which offer stunning views of the Adriatic Sea.
Another popular destination in Central Istria is the town of Motovun, which is located on a hilltop and offers stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The town is known for its medieval walls and gates, as well as its annual film festival, which attracts visitors from around the world. In addition to its historical sights, Motovun is also home to a number of excellent restaurants and wineries, which offer visitors the opportunity to sample some of the region's delicious local cuisine and wine.