‘Bleisure’ isn’t a new trend, and I’m sure we’ve all extended a business trip into the weekend at some point. What’s new is the rise of ‘blended travel’ – dictated by Gen Z and Millennials mostly, blended travellers seamlessly incorporate leisure and business throughout the trip. They spend evenings relaxing, weekends exploring, and lunchtimes checking out local coffee shops and restaurants – rather than just a few days before or after a business meeting.
Blended travel can be seen as a lifestyle extension of highly popular bleisure travel. Typically, bleisure trips last 3-5 nights, while blended travel can range from a week to a month. Travellers are working flexibly shunning the traditional 9 to 5 pattern and using their time to explore the destination while being productive.
Globally, 53% of both Millennial and Gen Z employees plan to travel for business in 2024, as per Hilton’s 2024 Travel Trends report. Employees in India (65%), UAE (64%) and China (60%) are most likely to be travelling for bleisure. What’s also interesting is that 27% of Gen Z and 29% of Millennial employees plan to take friend or family member with them on a bleisure trip next year.
Quickly growing into a $594.5 billion market, according to Future Market Insights, blended travel is on the rise for many reasons. Number one being the newfound confidence in remote working and flexible working options. This gives employees increased confidence to extend their work trips into more wholesome and rewarding experiences. According to BVA BDRC’s Business Omnibus Survey July 2024, businesses, 42% of the businesses surveyed say that staff add on hotel nights for leisure purposes, e.g. extend their business trips to have leisure time in the location.
We also found that 52% of businesses who add on hotel nights for leisure purposes encourage staff to do this, with only 10% discouraging the practice (the remainder state no difference).
Another influencer is the strong desire to make the most of one’s time while travelling. There is now a willingness to take fewer trips and spend more time at a single destination. Blended travellers also prefer to stay at the same property for both portions of the trip, making accommodations with business and leisure amenities highly desirable. In-room workspace, fast WiFi connections, fitness centres, spas and local experiences are in high demand.
So how can hotels take advantage of this trend?
Hotels need to cater to a wide range of blended travellers who could vary from digital nomads, remote workers, families to people booking workcations. The strategy is not just to identity blended travellers but also to identify the best opportunities within the customer journey to convert a ‘static’ business traveller into a blended one.
Some ideas may include blended travel promotions on extended stay bookings, plus one travel incentives, collaborations with local co-working spaces to help guests experience and interact with locals, designing work-friendly spaces sand providing tech support and the right marketing strategies to reach out to right audience.
The blended traveller is highly flexible and demands spaces that are as flexible. Repurposing spaces and offering flexible check-in and check-out times can go a long way. It’s all about hotels that can leverage experiential, moment-driven spaces for travellers with different travel motivations. Hotels are converting arcades, bowling alleys and mini-golf areas into dynamic break-out spaces that can be used to keep the guest in-house for a longer time. We’ve also seen hotels where wellness spaces on the lower ground have been fitted with lighting systems to resemble natural daylight uplifting the mood of meeting attendees, but can also be used as a wellness centre when events aren’t in session.
With remote work here to stay and the need for companies to offer personal incentives around business travel and better work-life balance, there is a big opportunity for hotels to take up the role of facilitating travellers to make the most of their trips. Business travel is one of the highest motivators of travel in 2024 and will only gain more popularity in the years to come. The demand and planning should be for more dynamic, experiential spaces that encourage travellers to work and stay longer at hotels, experience the destination and bring along family and friends to their next blended trip.
