First let’s start by answering your burning question, what is Bleisure? This is an emerging trend where business professionals combine business trips with leisure.
With our busy work and social schedules it is becoming more difficult to carve out time for a family vacation. As business executives know, vacation time is an important part of a balanced life; therefore more professionals are starting to compromise by turning business trips into vacations. Not only does it lower your expenses, it also allows you to spend valuable time with your family by extending your trip to include holiday time with your family.
The Bleisure Report by Bridgestreet Global Hospitality surveyed 640 international guests. 78% of respondents feel that adding leisure days to business travel adds value to their work assignments. According to the 2015 GBTA Business Traveller Sentiment Index, two thirds of those surveyed say it’s important to be able to extend their business trips for leisure, while 36 percent of the travellers surveyed did so within the last three months. About half of those who have done so brought their spouses or family members along on the trip.
The potential positive impact of extending business trips to include a holiday is something each busy professional should consider. Six out of ten people indicated that they are more likely to combine business and pleasure on trips compared to five years ago. Here are some reasons why mixing business with pleasure is a good idea:
1. Spend more time with family. By extending that business trip you may dread, you could include time with family that might not otherwise be possible with a hectic schedule.
2. See more of the world – together. Business trips are usually very busy; there is no time to explore. By staying longer during your bleisure trip, you will actually have time to experience the destination. If you travel a lot for work on a global scale, you could organise it in such a way that your family spend at least one trip with you at different destinations each time. That way your family will also be able to experience more of the world.
3. Save on total expenses. When your company is covering the costs of your flight to a destination it significantly reduces the total cost of your vacation. With this in mind extending your business trip makes economic sense.
4. Experience the local culture. When you have the opportunity to conduct business within another country, you get to meet new people from different cultural backgrounds. But as your sole focus is business you do not have time to actually immerse yourself in the culture of these countries you visit. During a bleisure trip you will have the added advantage of time that will allow you to gain first-hand knowledge of the countries you visit when you discover every nook and cranny.
5. Enjoy a much needed work-break If you are able to extend your business trip and fit in vacation time, you will gain some much needed time off work that will allow you to unwind, especially after stressful business negotiations. 6. Networking opportunities.
If you are looking to expand your business in a country, an evening out can be turned into a networking opportunity. When you make new friends at a destination, you will learn from them and you can share knowledge. A new friendship may turn into a business partnership, or you can maybe meet a future investor or mentor.
So when you need to book your next business trip, ask your employer if you may extend it to include a little vacation time. However keep in mind that not all business trips can be arranged in such a way that the family can attend. It takes responsible travel habits and discipline to complete work first before getting fully immerged in the holiday spirit. But by choosing the correct destination to change your business trip into bleisure time, your whole family can benefit from you work trip.
Book your next bleisure trip through our VIP Express Tourism Limited partner, Nowahala Tours. Our friendly staff will ensure your trip will exceed your expectations.
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