How many times have you traveled for work and extended your stay for vacation? You might not have known it, but combining your business travel with leisure travel is actually known as bleisure and this trend is taking off! Did you know it can also benefit both you and your career? Let us break it down for you.
So, what is ‘bleisure’?
It’s a term used to describe a hybrid-type of trip that blends business and leisure travel. It may still be up and coming in the industry, but a recent study suggests that 67% of business travelers said they felt it was important to have the ability to extend business trips with a leisure ending. Whether it’s an extra week or weekend, this industry trend lets professionals make the most out of their visit by having enough time for both work and a tour of the new city.
What are the benefits?
It may sound like you’re the only one benefiting from the extra vacation time. But believe it or not, it’s actually good for your company, too!
- If you arrive earlier than when your meetings start, you’ll have more time to rest up and get adjusted to the new time zone.
- Travel wellbeing can help boost your job satisfaction. Research by Skift shows that 78% of employees feel that adding leisure days to business travel adds value to their work assignments. You’ll perform better in your role and be more productive on your trip.
- Since you’re planning one half of your trip and your company is taking care of the other, you both will save on flight and accommodation bookings. This would reduce overall expenses–it’s a win win situation!
- Neither you nor your boss have to stress over the trip-planning. There are more and more agencies that make corporate and personal travel seamless, like Hipmunk!
Awesome! Got any tips?
Of course we do! Before you start scheduling a meeting overseas, these are a few things to keep in mind.
- Make sure you’re clear with your boss what your business goals are before you go.
- Research your organization’s corporate travel policies before you start organizing the personal part of your trip.
- The best time to schedule your meetings are on Mondays and Fridays. Book the morning flight on the way there and the red-eye on the way back to maximize your time away.
- Pack versatile outfits that can be both professional and casual. Less to carry, which means more space for souvenirs!
- Invite friends and family to meet you there. While they may not be able to join in on your meetings, they’ll be right there to explore with you when all your work is finished!
- Take our Global SIM Card with you! You’ll never miss an email or group chat message with our Unlimited Data packages, available in 125+ countries.
Have you ever taken a ‘bleisure’ trip before? Share your favorite place to bleisure travel to in the comments below!