This text is part of the special Business Tourism section
After a break during the pandemic, the bleisure comes back in force. This trend, which combines the words “business” and “leisure” – the term is a contraction of “business” and “leisure” in English – is driven by new generations of business travelers who are both highly connected and looking for pleasure.
“People who take business trips try to add pleasure to it,” observes Catherine Verdone, professor of hotel management at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ), who has seen this clientele rejuvenate since the pandemic. “Very concerned about sustainable development and their ecological footprint, young business travelers who travel (especially by plane) wonder why they would pollute a second time for a leisure trip. Instead of traveling twice, they prefer to stay longer,” she notes.
Economic considerations are probably also behind this phenomenon, as is the attention paid to mental health. “We talked about it a lot during the pandemic. THE bleisure is also part of this trend. We want to work, but also have fun,” summarizes Catherine Verdone.
Balancing work and pleasure
The phenomenon is not new, but it is accelerating, and Quebecers are not the only ones to adopt this trend. In the United States, a survey from the American Hotel & Lodging Association found in 2022 that nearly nine in ten travelers (89%) want to add some leisure time to their business trips. Another study, published by Statista, on the forecast value of the tourism market bleisurefor its part, foresees growth of 500% in this market within ten years.
Business travelers want to use time away from work to relax and have fun, but also to better explore destinations. “They want to explore the city or place they have moved to and absorb the local culture. It is also very important that there is a good gastronomic offer to allow them to reconcile work and pleasure,” advises Catherine Verdone.
Connected nomads
More flexible working arrangements accompany the growth of bleisure, but give rise to new material requirements. “The pandemic has taught us that we can work from anywhere with our technological tools: tablets, mobile phones, etc. Business travelers work in their rooms, but also in lounges, by the pool or by the sea,” says Catherine Verdone, who observes that the new generation is particularly looking for this flexibility.
The technological aspect of hospitality, very important in business tourism, includes several parameters. “If you work in a hotel room, you want a suitable workspace with a good desk, an ergonomic chair, accessible power outlets and a good connection,” describes the professor. And even, for example, the possibility of projecting what we are working on on television, in preparation for a presentation to a board of directors, to see what it will look like on the big screen. »
Both a school and a hotel in downtown Montreal, the ITHQ allows its students to combine theory with practice to immerse themselves in these trends and learn how to manage them. “We mainly have business customers,” explains Catherine Verdone. Our students have the opportunity to interact with her and see concretely her requests both in terms of accommodation and business meetings,” says the one who also pushes them to test the waters elsewhere. “We encourage our students to discover all kinds of hotels through their internships,” she explains. Particularly in resorts, where we are currently observing a tendency for hoteliers to adopt a certain flexibility in terms of prices to attract business customers. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.