Bleisure tourism is a type of objective that, having a business purpose, ends up becoming a short holiday. The rise of this trend provides travellers with an attractive combination of leisure and work, ensuring greater savings on travel and transforming routines and commitments into enjoyable stays.
Progressively, bleisure is moving away from its casual, professional nature to become a lifestyle. As corporations normalise this hybrid form of bleisure, workers are increasingly seen as participating in a meeting throughout the day, and rounding off the day with local sightseeing with their spouse and children.
Therefore, what key aspects should we consider about this modality? From BRAINTRUST we highlight 5 fundamental points:
1. TIME IS THE KEY
In bleisure tourism, travellers want to make the most of their leisure time, as they spend practically all day working. They need to get the most out of their travel experience, which is why they require personalised services that live up to their expectations. It is a restless profile, which seeks to squeeze every second: there is no other type of traveller that makes the most of their options in a specific destination.
Tourism companies need to quickly find available resources on the leisure side, generating tailor-made services and optimising experiences. Increasing investment in technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), is a key action to make this process more transparent and effective.
2. MILLENNIALS ARE THE POTENTIAL AUDIENCE
Millennials deserve special attention because they are the future of business travel. They are almost twice as likely as the baby boom generation to travel for business purposes. In short, they are flexible individuals who blur the fine line between private and professional life; they are experts who tend to work from home or during the evening hours, for leisure activities during traditional working hours.
One consequence of this freedom translates into extending business travel to address holiday plans. Compared to other age groups, millennials feel a real affinity towards the concept of bleisure .
As part of their professional career, they do not want to give up either their achievements or their personal experiences: they want it all, and they need it as soon as possible. The mix of work and pleasure provides the best of both worlds, allowing them to find the perfect balance between fulfilment and satisfaction.
3. NEW HABITS: OPPORTUNITY
With the advent of bleisure tourism, tourists have adopted new habits and preferences that need to be taken into account at all times. Based on available data, 1 in 2 bleisure travellers take a family member with them; 1 in 5 are between 35 and 65 years old, with good purchasing power and, ultimately, the vast majority opt for sightseeing, experiencing local culture and art and sampling local cuisine.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that 3 out of 5 users are willing to opt for bleisure, a tremendously significant figure, which companies in the travel industry should consider, as it is a niche that has yet to be exploited.
4. AID FOR THE DESEASONALISATION OF INDUSTRY
Bleisure tourism is here to stay, providing greater flexibility in leisure planning . This type of tourism is a growing phenomenon, and many business people have heard of it at least once.
This means that it is no longer necessary to wait for the summer to take a getaway, which has many advantages, including the deseasonalisation of the industry, an aspect that has been pursued for a long time and is now a fact, from which the entire sector will benefit (airlines, hotels, agencies, rent a car, etc.).
If the employee has holiday days available, he/she can add a couple of days to the business trip to visit local places of interest. They can also use the weekend or a public holiday to fill in the additional period. BRAINTRUST Barometerdata shows that only a quarter of trips take place in July and August, with 75% spread across the other months of the year.
5. FLEETING JOURNEYS DEMANDING TAILOR-MADE SERVICES
Companies in the industry need to be aware of the duration of business travel if they want to offer tailored bleisure packages. According to recent data, 6 out of 10 travellers will be away on business for around 10 days a year. The average duration of these business trips is 1-2 days, which translates into fleeting visits.
Para Ángel García Butragueño, Co-Director del Barómetro Turístico BRAINTRUST, “los viajeros bleisure esperan que las compañías de viajes los «encuentren» en el entorno donde pasan la mayor parte de su tiempo: internet. Esto significa que las empresas turísticas deben aprovechar las redes sociales y las estrategias digitales para entablar diálogos directos con ellos sobre productos, servicios y opiniones. Para ello deben salir de su área de confort, y ampliar su radio de acción, comprendiendo primero el customer journey completo, y definiendo después los puntos de interacción con el viajero, creando y manteniendo experiencias de viaje únicas y diferenciales”.
According to José Manuel Brell, Co-Director of the Tourism Barometer BRAINTRUST, "Bleisure tourism is not a fad, it is here to stay. Bleisure travellers expect travel companies to position products and services that can be easily incorporated into their itineraries. Never before has there been such an important opportunity to grow the industry, with the advantage of being able to de-seasonalise business and make the bottom line more profitable for travel companies.
At BRAINTRUST we can help you to better understand this market niche, its advantages and competitive potential. We have the best means to advise you in the configuration of value propositions that will optimise your brand presence in bleisure tourism.
