Make Bleisure a Breeze

It’s easier than ever to combine business and leisure travel.

BY ILONA KAUREMSZKY

TAHOE TREASURES: Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort aerial view of the beach (top) and (below) fire pit, winter mountains and secret cove

PHOTOS: © HYATT REGENCYLAKE TAHOE RESORT

HEAD TILTED SKYWARD, standing on the edge of North Lake Tahoe on this moonlit fall evening, I think the constellations never looked brighter. The universe is in full glory.

So is our small bunch of international conference attendees, doing a double-take into a big Celestron telescope and listening to the starry revelations of an ace local astronomer.

At this exclusive private beach next to the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, the gasps echo across the crystal, still waters of Big Blue as we realize the hairball in the sky appearing in full lens view lies about 25,000 light years away. Tony the Star Gazer, a local star tour operator — used to showcasing the galaxy to the resort’s blue-chip group clients like Google — is quick on the scene, ready to reveal some of the great mysteries that lurk above.

I have come to Reno, Nevada, to attend the Nevada Governor’s Global Tourism Summit but also to explore the treasures of the High Sierra in a post-conference trip with other like-minded attendees combining business and pleasure — what marketing gurus aptly coin “bleisure.” It’s the overlapping of the two travel universes; as one company describes it, “the practice of combining business travel and leisure travel into one trip.”

RELAX AND RECHARGE: JW Marriott Marco Island beach (top) and (below) mini bowling and video game

PHOTOS: © JW MARRIOTT MARCO ISLAND

Expedia Group Media Solutions, the advertising arm of Expedia Group, the world’s largest online travel company, unveiled “Unpacking Bleisure Traveler Trends,” an online survey last year that indicates on average bleisure travelers take more than six business trips per year. The report reveals more than 60 percent of those business trips during the last year were extended for leisure purposes. Another illuminating finding shows a dramatic increase by nearly 40 percent in American bleisure travel since 2016, when the company released its previous survey titled “Discover the Untapped Mind of a Bleisure Traveler.”

The biggest differentiator, as one hotel insider points out, is the destination that drives the bleisure request. On Marco Island, the largest inhabited island of the Ten Thousand Islands in southwest Florida, the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort has identified its bleisure guests, the hotel’s largest segment, for years. “I like to say there is no one here at this property that’s on business that really isn’t on bleisure because it’s almost impossible to come to a destination like Marco Island and not take part in some sort of leisure activity,” says Amanda Cox, director of sales and marketing, JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, walking through the newly renovated resort clad in the customary unstructured uniform: sandals with a light, breezy Lilly Pulitzer sun dress.

One of the top bleisure resorts in America, it is deemed a convention resort due to the property’s 60 percent convention business. “But that doesn’t mean guests associated with conventions are never leaving the ballroom,” Cox notes inside the new 10K Alley, a state-of-the-art gaming emporium for kids and adults. To boot, the 810- room beach resort has what Cox describes as a “paradise planner,” part of the in-house vacation planning team who helps service business leisure inquiries, with most requests involving beach, water and golf.

The luxury property overlooking the Gulf of Mexico offers sailing and shelling excursions; children’s activities; culinary classes; a full-service spa; two 18-hole golf courses; and the enchanting ecosystem of the Florida Everglades, where people can understand this magical place and interact with dolphins, sea turtles and manatees. Cox adds,

“You would think having a big convention in house, the restaurants would be empty, but that’s not the case here.”

People come early and stay late. Conducting business in resort destinations is where Cox feels bleisure originated. “It was from people attending meeting events in these phenomenal, once-in-a-lifetime places they wouldn’t normally go.”

Expedia Group cites the top three reasons for extending business trips for bleisure as great entertainment/activity options (48 percent), a bucket list/must-visit location (43 percent) and the destination’s ease of navigation (38 percent). Other points include proximity to the weekend, having great recreation and whether friends can tag along.

In Sedona, Arizona, the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock, located at the foot of the famous red rocks, rolled out Backpack Breakouts in response to the growing bleisure requests for groups. “The special offering gives [corporate] guests the option to either start their day or end their day in pursuit of the outdoors by foot, bike, off-road Jeep, horse or air, complete with backpack-filled meals to keep them energized throughout the adventure at hand,” says Andra Dan, public relations manager of Arizona and New Mexico, Hilton Resorts, based in Phoenix. She notes the property hosted and organized many bleisure experiences for groups of various sizes.

PLAY TIME: Hilton Sedona Backpack Breakouts (top), games (middle) and warrior pit (bottom)

PHOTOS: © HILTON SEDONA

With properties across the United States, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts recently completed a $200 million brand transformation with the tag line, “We’re all business, mostly” — part of a company-wide initiative known as the Accelerate program to make bleisure a breeze for business travelers. The company recognizes work changed with the blurring between work and life. The WorkLife Room — a new U.S.-patented, tech-enabled, design-led room concept — is billed as the “guestroom of the future.” The brand also makes it easy to turn a business trip into a heady getaway that screams bleisure. For instance, the Crowne Plaza HY36 Midtown Manhattan features a beer garden, making the temptation of New York City’s excitement difficult to pass up.

As business travelers continue to seek ways to unwind before and after meetings, Hyatt Hotels creates unique bleisure opportunities in the company’s loyalty program, World of Hyatt. For instance, Exhale on Demand, a streaming video platform of wellness videos, rolled out this winter. New videos are uploaded weekly for subscribers who can access them on their preferred personal digital devices. Hyatt also recently introduced FIND, a curated menu of exclusive wellness experiences for loyalty members. The activities are destination-specific and range from private surfing lessons to a hike and yoga among the redwoods to hive-to-table honey harvesting and tasting.

“At Hyatt, our portfolio of brands is positioned to meet guests’ needs for every stay occasion, whether that be for business travel or leisure. Recently, there has been a noticeable shift in the way corporate travel programs are designed, and there is a greater focus on the individual traveler. The personal experiences they take away from a business trip can often define its success,” says Gus Vonderheide, vice president of global sales, Hyatt. “This, along with the business travelers’ ever-changing preferences, will continue to create a space for leisure elements to appear in business trips.”

But it’s back at Lake Tahoe outside the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino, where I lace up the hiking boots and hit the refresh button. It’s time to explore one of the hiking trails in this lush alpine getaway where Mother Nature smiles upon its bleisure seekers.