Work during holiday...my bleisure!
Before the coronavirus descended upon us, there was business travel, pleasure travel and other travel. Around early 2010 or thereabouts, a new trend emerged. One that combined the world of business with that of leisure…and soon the word ‘bleisure’ was coined. In other words, bleisure could be described as travel necessitated by business but is extended by leisure. In a nutshell, it is predominantly travel for business but making the most out of the free time – either before or after business… for leisure.
Bleisure or bizcation (coined from business and vacation) had its detractors to the extent that there were and probably still are some who even hated the word –apart from disliking the concept. Primarily because It stemmed from the fact that the concept blurred the lines of just where the ‘business’ end of travel ceased, and, where the ‘leisure’ phase began.
During the frenetic ‘pressed-for-time’ pre-COVID-19 period, where work-life compulsively invaded one’s social one, and, where Corporations expected their executives to do more and take less time off, the concept of bleisure had growing appeal to many. Being constantly connected via smart phones made a compelling case as well.
So, how does bleisure work? Say you are sent on a three-day business trip. You add to the 3-day working trip a couple of days taken from your vacation leave allotment for some sightseeing, relaxation and/or rest. What would have been a short 3-day business related – trip is thus extended to a five-day business plus vacation journey.
You might then consider inviting your wife or partner to come along, where paying extra for the second person in the hotel room, as well as the air fare for your wife/partner and for the extended hotel stay will still cost far less than having to pay the airfare and hotel stay for both – when traveling separately on leisure to the same or similar destination.
Whilst previously, bleisure was not positively encouraged as a formal policy (companies that permitted it, preferred it to remain an informal or discretionary thing rather than include it as a formal policy), the devastating phase in the economic cycle, after COVID-19, is likely to cause an upward trajectory in the coming days ahead.
A recent survey conducted by Censuswide in association with PromoLeaf, with over 1003 U.S employees, who frequently traveled for business prior to COVID-19, when asked what they miss about business travel? revealed nearly 50% of them saying, it was “bleisure” the combination of business and pleasure trips often done by tacking a few extra days on to a business trip to explore the area traveled to.
At a time where an employee’s smartphone and work calendar is intertwined with Skype chats with clients, it makes sense for their bizcation to be part of this arrangement, too. As long as everyone’s aware that there’s a clear divide between work and pleasure in terms of who pays, who arranges it and how time is accounted for, then the committed business traveler should be able to take that well-earned break – and why not?
Isn’t it the perfect win-win situation?
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier
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