At the beginning of this year, the Malaysian government through the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) introduced the DE Nomad program where digital nomads can make Malaysia a destination to work outside the office for a certain amount of time, with the offer of work visas and also temporary accommodation.
Today, MDEC has signed a memorandum of understanding together with the short-term accommodation platform company AirBNB to collaborate in the empowerment of the DE Rantau initiative by offering long-term accommodation locations.
This collaboration was made with data from AirBNB which said that the demand for long-term accommodation (28 days and above) has increased from 7.7 percent in 2019 to 11.6 percent in 2023 in the APAC region. In Malaysia, the demand is seen to increase from 11.6 percent to 18.6 percent in 2022.
In fact, post-Covid-19, Malaysia is one of the locations with the highest AirBNB bookings in the world, with three popular destinations in 2022 seen in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor Bahru.
In May this year, AirBNB also introduced a new function through their application that allows travelers to book accommodation for 12 consecutive months. This service has been extended to cover the DE Rantau Hub program as well, with offerings such as fast wireless internet connection (minimum 100Mbps), dedicated workspace, kitchen, laundry and even public transport nearby.
Steven Liew, AirBNB Asia Pacific Director of Public Policy said that AirBNB works with short-term accommodation owners to enable them to convert their locations into long-term DE Regional hubs.
MDEC CEO, Ts. Mahadhir Aziz said that so far, there are 1400 DE Rantau hubs in Malaysia based in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Langkawi Island and also Penang Island, of which 600 belong to AirBNB. MDEC expects that the number of these hubs will increase to 2000 by the end of this year.
To attract more digital nomads, AirBNB has also opened the AirBNB Live and Work in Malaysia website which allows them to not only book accommodation, but also for them to apply for a DE Rantau Pass visa more easily.