According to the latest Egencia 2018 Bleisure Trends study, one in five global business travellers skip leisure additions to business trips due to employer perception.
Twenty per cent of business travellers have foregone adding leisure portions to their trips because of how it may look to their employer. Business travellers in Asia are the most conscious of this at 32 per cent, with North America and Europe following at 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
Proximity to the weekend may minimise that perception, with nearly one-quarter of respondents saying this impacts their decision. Of those who take the bleisure dive, less than two per cent globally have billed back bleisure expenses to their companies.
Additional findings include a majority (55 per cent) of Egencia global business travellers take less than six business trips per year on average, and 68 per cent take at least one bleisure trip per year.
When it comes to activities, the destination and sightseeing are top of mind.
Destination location is by far the biggest factor in determining whether or not to take a bleisure trip, with 30 per cent of North America business travellers prioritising location, compared to 25 per cent in Europe and Asia.
Proximity to the weekend and proximity to friends and family came in a close second and third for global respondents, at 23 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
Sightseeing is the most popular bleisure activity for business travellers across all regions.
In addition, 74 per cent of North American business travellers are either planning or considering a bleisure trip in the next six months, compared to 87 per cent in Asia and 68 per cent in Europe.
Half of Asia’s business travellers are planning a bleisure trip this year, compared to 41 per cent of North Americans and 32 per cent or Europeans.
Bleisure trips are also a big 2018 resolution: 37 per cent of Asians, 25 per cent of Europeans and 20 per cent of North Americans made it one of theirs.
The study polled 9,000 Egencia users across North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. Although bleisure travel is on the rise, employer perception, destination and proximity to the weekend all have a part to play in the bleisure decision-making process.
