BELLEVUE, WA—Egencia has released findings from the Egencia 2018 Bleisure Trends study, uncovering the trends, behaviors and motivators behind bleisure travel, the practice of tacking on leisure portions to business trips. Polling 9,000 Egencia users across North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe, the study illustrates that while bleisure travel is on the rise, employer perception, destination and proximity to the weekend all play into the bleisure decision-making process.
According to the study, 20% of business travelers have foregone adding leisure portions to their trips because of how it may look to their employer. Business travelers in Asia are the most conscious of this at 32%, with North America and Europe following at 20% and 15%, respectively.
Proximity to the weekend may minimize that perception, with nearly one-quarter of respondents saying this impacts their decision. Of those who take bleisure trips, less than 2% percent globally have billed back bleisure expenses to their companies.
Additional findings include the following: a majority (55%) of Egencia global business travelers take less than six business trips per year on average, and 68% 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% of North America business travelers prioritizing location, compared to 25% in the EU and Asia. Proximity to the weekend and proximity to friends and family came in a close second and third for global respondents, at 23% and 16% respectively.
The study also found that bleisure trips are well planned. Seventy-four percent of North American business travelers are either planning or considering a bleisure trip in the next six months, compared to 87% in Asia and 68% in Europe. Half of Asia business travelers are planning a bleisure trip this year, compared to 41% of North Americans and 32% or Europeans.
And, bleisure trips are a big 2018 resolution: 37% of Asia business travelers, 25% of Europeans and 20% of North Americans made it one of theirs.