All work and no play can make business travel very dull indeed. That’s among the main reasons why people travelling for work tend to like adding on a few days to the trip to take in whatever attractions the destination has to offer. And if that destination is London, Paris, Barcelona or New York, they won’t go short of entertainment and cultural pursuits.
The practice has become so prevalent that the travel industry even has a word for it: “bleisure”. It’s not the most elegant of terms but the portmanteau word for the mix of business and leisure travel is pretty self-explanatory.
Otherwise known as a “workation”, the practice almost certainly originated in the United States, where employees typically get just 10 days paid holiday a year. The idea of travelling to a two-day conference on a Thursday and adding on the weekend and bringing your partner for what is effectively a subsidised mini-break is very alluring.
So much so that it has now almost become the norm rather than the exception, according to statistics compiled by international business travel platform Travel Perk. In a 2022 survey of US business travellers, the American Hotel and Lodging Association found that 89 per cent of participants wanted to include some holiday time in their next corporate trip. In the UK, 45 per cent of participants in a survey carried out by Crowne Plaza Hotels said they intended to add a leisure element to business trips in the future.
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Research carried out by aviation investment specialist Stratos reveals high levels of bleisure travel across the world. In Germany, 65 per cent of all business trips have a leisure element. In China it’s 62 per cent while it’s 56 per cent for the UK. And the most popular bleisure travel destinations, according to online statistics portal Statista, are, unsurprisingly, New York City, Paris and London.
Travel Counsellors business development manager Bernie Whelan believes bleisure travel is on the rise for a variety of reasons. “Companies look at it as a perk that helps them reward and retain staff,” she says. “It’s a win-win. It also enables people to build relationships with colleagues on the ground in other locations. Experiencing the culture in places where the company does business is also useful.”
Whether a company facilitates bleisure travel or not is a different question. “It depends on the size of the company, its industry sector, and demographics might also be a factor,” she says. “We work with our corporate clients on their travel policies and whether to allow bleisure or not. Many companies say they are happy to allow it as long as there is transparency around it. But it really depends on the company and the circumstances of the people involved.”
Whelan points to a recent case where one of the company’s counsellors helped to organise a bleisure trip to South Africa for the chief executive of an SME. “He was going to South Africa to meet people and decided to bring his partner and children and combine it with a family holiday. Because we do both corporate and leisure travel, we were able to divide the part that was for business and the part that was for leisure,” she says.
“We have clients who have people travelling to places like the US, UK, Germany, the UAE and Asia for work and corporate events. They might be going to a meeting on Friday or Monday and decide to tack on the weekend. We can organise the city tours and entertainment and so on as well as the business aspects of the trip. The company pays for the flights and the accommodation required for the business event and the employee pays for the rest.”
Jackie Sheehan is sales director for corporate and leisure business with Frosch Ireland. She believes remote working is also playing a role in the bleisure travel market. “The pandemic brought to the fore the idea that in many jobs you can do everything from home or wherever you are staying at the time,” she explains. “If you are travelling abroad for business, you can rent an Airbnb for a month and work from there while combining it with leisure in the evenings and so on. If companies are smart and open to it, bleisure travel can allow their employees work from various locations.
“I know people that did three-month stints abroad and brought their families with them,” she adds. “I’m surprised we don’t hear about it even more. It’s particularly attractive for younger people.”
Frosch actively promotes bleisure travel to its clients. “We have a leisure team that sits beside the corporate team,” says Sheehan. “They help our clients to make the most of their budgets. We can often find cheaper flights for people if they are staying longer on trip, for example. We give corporate travellers the best experience possible. That makes the road warrior feel a lot less stressed.
“If you have to go to New York or wherever for a few days adding leisure can be a big positive. We can book the shows and so on. We do the business travel and find the best value flights for the person’s partner as well.
“Bleisure travel is 100 per cent on the rise. Last time I read the data, nearly 50 per cent of people who travel for work said they want to add leisure on to it.”
Click&Go chief executive Paul Hackett is a seasoned bleisure traveller. “I do it all the time,” he says. “If I’m at a conference, I try to bring my partner and add on a week’s holiday. I did that twice in 2024 after conferences in Mallorca and Almería. When you do the maths, it makes a holiday a lot more affordable. The company pays for me, and we pay for the rest. It’s very clear what’s paid for.”