"Where should I go next?"

Abstract: Digital nomadism has been around for more than two decades. Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a shift from traditional office work to remote work, which made the digital nomad lifestyle more accessible for a larger group of individuals. Digital nomads represent a great opportunity for destinations as they help boost the local economy. Therefore, it is important for destinations to get an understanding of how to attract digital nomads. Most previous studies, however, have solely investigated the work- and lifestyle aspects of digital nomadism. Thus, there is a lack of research about digital nomadism from a tourism angle. This study aims to fill this gap by examining what factors are considered important by digital nomads. Those are analyzed through consumer behavior theory, specifically the concepts of consumption values and the decision-making process. To investigate those factors, we conducted 17 qualitative interviews in order to get in-depth insights. Our findings demonstrate the importance of functional values in digital nomads' final decision-making stage. Among those functional values infrastructure and the cost of living have proven specifically important. The findings of this study contribute to the field of tourism by understanding digital nomads’ consumer behavior.