Do you travel for bleisure?

How we choose to travel for business is rapidly changing, new research has found, with many choosing to travel for bleisure.

According to new data gathered by SAP Concur Travel and Expense between January and December 2017, the company found that bleisure trips have spiked by 46 per cent across EMEA.

SAP Concur has defined ‘bleisure’ as a business trip that includes a Saturday night stay, and from 2016 to 2017 these trips increased year-on-year by 20 per cent.

Meanwhile, for EMEA travellers, it turns out that the most popular destinations for bleisure travel include Dubai, Paris, Frankfurt, Tel Aviv and London.

“Bleisure is a rising trend across the globe. Increasingly as employees seek to achieve a better work/life balance; they don’t want to only see the airport of a city. Instead they want to embed themselves more in the culture and experiences that their destination has to offer,” said Emma Maslen, MD of SAP Concur.

“This trend coincides with upward growth trajectory of the platform economy, the most notable brands including Airbnb, enabling travellers to find cost-effective, flexible accommodation that empowers them to maximise the best of both worlds.

“Indeed, 70 per cent of Airbnb bookings we’ve seen from our data included a Saturday night – now compare that with just 10 per cent for hotel bookings. Companies need to have the correct policies in place to help effectively manage the rise of bleisure.”

In EMEA, bleisure trips made in 2017 were on an increasing trend compared to 2016 for all months, with March hitting the highest peak at 81 per cent, followed by February and May at 49 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively.

So, do you travel for bleisure? Let us know on Twitter @palifemag.