Beyond the Meeting Room: What’s Bleisure Travel?

The concept of ‘bleisure’ (integrating personal time into business trips) is gaining a lot of momentum right now. If you’re a business that hasn’t explored sustainable bleisure travel practices yet, what’s stopping you?

It won’t surprise you to hear that most European employees want to see bleisure incorporated in their business travel policy (as much as 75%, according to a recent FREENOW survey). But what will surprise you is that bleisure can benefit your business just as much as it benefits your employees.

Striking the right balance between work and personal time on business trips is a win-win for everyone involved. Here’s a quick look at why that is, and how to start integrating bleisure into your company’s business travel policy.

The benefits of bleisure travel

There are a whole load of great benefits to prioritizing employee wellbeing in business travel. For example, bleisure will help your business:

Increase employee satisfaction - If you show your employees you understand that they need down time on work trips, this will make them feel valued.

Boost productivity - Multiple studies have shown that making space for employee downtime has a positive impact on productivity levels.

Attract and retain talent - By creating a positive travel experience for your employees, they’ll stay happier in their jobs for longer. A company that openly supports bleisure in their job descriptions will also attract the best talent on the market.

Improve client relationships - Shared experiences beyond the boardroom can strengthen client relationships and foster trust between both organisations.

How to integrate bleisure into your travel program

Bringing bleisure travel into practice isn’t just a matter of

writing them into your business travel policy. It requires a more holistic approach, which includes:

• Opening up discussion about bleisure travel, addressing employee concerns and fostering a supportive environment.

• Informing employees about the choices they have and empowering them to plan their personal time effectively.

• Offering discounts on extended stays, bleisure-focused packages, or local attractions to incentivise participation.

• Promoting a culture where bleisure is seen as a valuable tool for wellbeing, not a privilege or burden.

• Establishing clear guidelines regarding duration,

  expenses, and work expectations during the business portion of the trip.

We surveyed 3,666 European business travellers about their company’s business travel policies. As part of this survey, we asked participants what sort of bleisure-related actions they’d like to see their their company take. Download the eBook to see the results in full.