What is bleisure? Start leaving the boring past behind!
In the past, business trips were often associated with an intense get-away. Settling something important and then returning home as soon as possible. First, a morning plane and laptop opened from seven in the morning. Then a meeting day crammed to the limit and a rush for an evening flight home. For some time now, business trips have ceased to be just a tiring duty. We are no longer going for delegations, from which we bring memories only of conference rooms, hotel rooms and restaurants. The tourism industry must meet the expectations of new working generations. Millennials do not want to be corporate slaves and that is how they create new trends.
Here comes the bleisure
Bleisure – a mysteriously sounding name turns out to be the hottest trend in travel. The term “bleisure” is a neologism resulting from the combination of two words “business” and “leisure”. Basically it is a mix of business travel with recreation and entertainment. Other functioning terms for this trend are “bizcation” and “workcation”.
How does it work?
For example. In a situation where an employee goes to a conference or important meetings on a Thursday or Friday, he often prolongs his stay for the weekend, paying that part from his own funds. For the company it usually does not matter if the return ticket is purchased on Friday or on Sunday evening. A bleisurian traveler will stay longer in a given place, so that after performing his duties, he will also experience the culture and the essence of the place he has reached.
BBC in its research on the trend indicates that a bleisurian traveler is a person which is more aware of culture. He is focused on culinary and cultural experience, intensely planning his time in the newly visited place.
The main benefits of bleisure
- Saving time – this is very important especially for the millennials. Young employees, who usually have only a few days’ leave during the year, are happy to use the possibility of extending their business trip. Thanks to that they have the opportunity to rest and learn about new places. Bleisure is a way to save a few days of vacation.
- Saving money – extending your stay by a day or two, to use them to rest after difficult business meetings, also saves you money. In such a situation, the personal cost will be, for example, only a surcharge for an additional night in the hotel and personal expenses.
- New contacts, connections – business trips allow you to meet a lot of new people. It is worth spending more time with them, getting to know each other in a different context. This always results in many pleasant situations, mutual invitations, and discovering new places together.
- Getting to know new places – often business trips are to places that are on the “must-see” list. It would be a shame not to take advantage of such a chance. For example not to spend extra time in New York which perhaps will never happen again!
- Time spent with family – sometimes employer allows the employee to take an accompanying person. Usually it happens in the case of longer business trips. Especially if travels take place to exceptionally charming places, it is worth spending some time there with your close ones.
Bleisure is simply a new standard, something completely new but important to people. Popular common sense says that travel broadens the mind. After all, a happy, growing, and evolving employee is a good employee.
