Bleisure: Modern Travel’s New Direction
At Your Space, we are interested in the way people travel for work to suit priorities and opportunities for bleisure trips. There is a constant adaptation to suit emergent new priorities and opportunities in our changing world.
A burgeoning trend before the COVID19 pandemic, ‘Bleisure’ travel has become even more popular in the years since. It has the potential to replace the traditional business trip as a norm within the corporate travel sphere. As the name suggests, a ‘Bleisure’ visit combines business with leisure. Often, this involves employees arranging to have holiday time at the beginning or end of a work venture. However, thanks to the rise of remote working, blended travel now also takes many other adaptable forms. For example, someone might travel to a new city for a conference then work remotely the following week. They can then enjoy time in the local area during their evenings and weekends.
So, why has bleisure travel taken off? And what advantages does this way of working offer today’s business travellers as well as the organisations they work for?
Bleisure Gives You Time to Explore
With the pandemic and lockdowns in early 2020, the general attitudes towards travel shifted. Post-pandemic, many are seeking out travel experiences that offer meaningful personal enrichment or education, adding to the popularity of bleisure trips. Turning a work trip into a bleisure adventure comes with many advantages. General work trips would largely only see the inside of hotels, boardrooms, and conference centres. With bleisure, there’s time to immerse in the unique character of the surroundings. From sampling traditional cuisine, going to museums and exploring areas of natural beauty. Bleisure means business travellers can enjoy the best of both worlds. Giving the chance to excel in work and the opportunity to connect with different locations and cultures.
A Greener Future
Another priority for the conscientious modern business traveller is their impact on the planet. One 2022 study found that 60% of corporate respondents felt the pandemic made them more aware of the environmental consequences of travelling. People who are mindful of their carbon footprint often seek to limit the number of trips they take. Coordinating a business excursion with a pleasure visit can become an eco-friendly choice.. They can achieve work goals and enjoy a fun, fruitful break while only making a single journey. With this in mind, encouraging and facilitating successful bleisure travel for employees has become a notable way for climate-conscious organisations. It helps promote more sustainable ways of travelling that safeguard our natural world.
Better Balance With Bleisure
As well as being a healthier option for the planet, bleisure travel can benefit individual wellness. Business trips are often busy events, requiring significant mental energy, so harmonising them with relaxing helps prevent burnout. Furthermore, today’s corporate travellers want a career which compliments other key pillars of their lives and bleisure trips. Families are invited to join the business traveller, honour both work commitments and need of quality time with loved ones.
Bleisure travel has the potential to support the success of both individuals and the organisations they work for. Employees with an energising work/life balance are more likely to perform at their best. Additionally, today’s companies are likely to see greater long-term loyalty and talent retention if they offer enriching perks. Such as the opportunity to take holiday time or work remotely in exciting locations.
Tomorrow’s Venture
With flexibility, the priority of purpose and personal growth for bleisure travel could become even more popular over the next few years, as seen in the linked article. As well as the following linked study showing 82% of bleisure travellers staying in the same place for the business and leisure elements of their trip. Meaning savvy sectors of the hospitality industry are adapting to meet this increasing need. Such as accommodation which seamlessly caters for both work and relaxation. Also accommodating the attention and adventure with the focus for both family and friends.
If you are visiting Cambridge as a bleisure traveller, or aiming to facilitate a bleisure trip, then Your Space Apartments could provide the ideal home-away-from-home. Our fully-furnished apartments offer space for work, leisure time and loved ones. They are centrally located with excellent access to both the city’s key business hubs and its many cultural highlights. This can include beautiful architecture, world-famous museums and first-class dining. Get in touch to start planning your visit today.
