NCCO International Bleisure, a portmanteau of “business” and “leisure,” is exactly what it sounds like: Business travel and leisure travel together at last, adding extra time for vacation before, during or after a work event. It is time in the boardroom paired with time at the beach. Part work, part vacation.
The popularity of bleisure trips and planning has seen continued, robust growth over the last couple of years – largely tied to the increase in remote work across almost every business sector, and a surge of people starting to travel again after the pandemic.
But this isn’t just a pandemic-fueled trend – as we move further away from office shutdown and forced work-from-home, bleisure travel has shown no signs of slowing down.
Bleisure is Growing
Bleisure was growing before the pandemic but has taken off recently. According to a recent study in Fortune, a whopping 89% of people reported a plan to add personal vacation time to their business in 2023, often with family or friends included in the equation. The trend is so significant, in fact, that bleisure travel is set to eclipse traditional business travel this year and beyond.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, necessarily – especially after a tumultuous few years of lockdowns and restricted travel. When people can travel for a conference or event and then spend an extended vacation in the area while they work remotely.
But because the majority of bleisure travelers stay in one place for both business and leisure, this creates new opportunities in hospitality and creates a new type of traveler, one who is there just for business or just for fun. With this new type of travel, hospitality companies have the chance to adjust and tailor their services.
Thus, there are three main takeaways from the bleisure trend:
- Bleisure travel that adds leisure to business travel, is taking over the hospitality industry and eclipsing traditional travel for work.
- This then creates new opportunities for the hospitality industry to cater to a new type of traveler – one who is interested in both business and leisure amenities when booking their trip.
- The hospitality industry can as a result offer services and amenities that make it easy for travelers to engage in both work and entertainment activities.
NCCO and the Hospitality Industry
Many hotels have traditionally catered solely to business travelers. These hotels can now attract business guests with additional tour packages or schedules and itineraries that make the most of the time they have and can capitalize on delivering great experiences outside of business events. Too can the hospitality focus on offering amenities and services tailored to the family and partners who come along who will look for services and activities during business hours. This not only helps boost loyalty, it also incentivizes guests to choose this hotel when planning their trip in the first place.
This also creates opportunities for foodservice within the hospitality industry: Meetings and events in hotel conference rooms in need of catering and quick-service dining options can now be paired with a need for packaging and to-go ordering for day trips and adventures, and other items that allow the dual-minded bleisure guest to get what they need quickly and efficiently.
The hospitality industry is ready for something new. While Bleisure travel is poised to change the industry for the better, NCCO is here to help every step of the way.