WFM on BBC World News

Covid-19: Working from India's beaches and mountains during the pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has forced most professionals to work from home. But some in India have become more creative, taking their work to scenic mountains and beaches.

Experts also say that between 10 and 20% of white-collar workers in the country have gone back to their home towns since Covid-19 struck.

India has seen large-scale migration from small towns to cities in recent decades - but the pandemic may see a reversal of that trend.

WFM on SCMP (South China Morning Post)

Forget work from home. In India, you can work from mountains instead

When Mathawan first proposed his scheme, it divided opinion; many locals feared the virus. The owner of one of the earliest hotels to join WFM was excommunicated from his Tirthan Valley community.

"Villagers thought he would spread the virus by welcoming visitors to his property," Mathawan says. "But now people have adapted to the new normal." Villagers were swayed when they realised working tourists brought a reliable income to the region.

Mathawan has hosted more than 500 groups of working tourists - couples, families, friends, colleagues - and an increasing number of hotels are embracing the idea, either as part of WFM or independently. Facebook pages such as The Himalayan Travel Group are filling with requests from employees looking for a stay in the mountains, while hotel owners enthusiastically scan the same pages to offer their services.

WFM on Forbes

Meet the 'work from village' brigade, ditching cities for hometowns

Work from Mountains (WFM) is an initiative between Sunshine Adventures and Travel The Himalayas, and is led by Panki Sood and Prashant Mathawan. The founders wanted to help people get away after being cooped up indoors due to the pandemic, and decided to provide them a chance to work from beautiful mountain regions.

“When we launched this initiative in July, people were really interested in moving to the mountains. Thousands of people have enquired and 20 bookings are already in,” says Mathawan.

WFM on Khaleej Times

The long read: Being on a workation

Delhi-based Prashant Mathawan would agree with Arnav. Prashant has pioneered the hugely-successful ‘Work from Mountains’ concept in India: he realised the potential of a new generation of workforce who could help revive the travel-dependent industry in the mountains if he offered the prospect of combining work and vacation.

“Work from Mountains (WFM) is more like a mutually beneficial system that stemmed from the need to connect two ends of the spectrum: help the lockdown affected tourism industry and working people experiencing fatigue due to extended lockdown. We realised that people had, on one hand, the option of working from home and studying online, while on the other hand, there were innumerable number of homestays or small hotel owners in the mountains having a hard time making a living. So, we decided to target two birds with one stone. And WFM came up.”