Industry News
The Rise of ‘bleisure’ Trips: How Post-pandemic Business Travel will Change By Lucas Mearian
Meeting Room, Royal Livingstone Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zambia
A
n emerging trend (with an unfortunate marketing name) is “bleisure” travel, where business travel is combined with leisure or tourism. The GBTA refers to it as “blended travel,” but the meaning is the same: business travelers add days onto the front or back end of their business plans to relax. In a survey conducted by the GBTA late last year, corporate travel managers were asked whether they think employees are more or less interested in extending work trips for leisure compared to before the pandemic. The survey found that 82% believe their workers were equally or more interested in “blended travel” than they used to be. “Airlines need to figure out how to fill intercontinental business class, likely with premium leisure promotions,” management consulting firm McKinsey and Company said in a recent report. “For all travel companies, the boom may be higher in traveler numbers than in profits, as the most lucrative corporate business has been slow to return.” McKinsey and Company suggests corporate travelers, travel planners, intermediaries, suppliers
and global-distribution-system providers prepare for a resurgence in corporate travel by developing these important skills: • Use real-time data. Monitoring information such as local and regional vaccination rates, price fluctuations, and changing demand will help organizations make better travel decisions. • Embed agility into planning. Creative solutions and multiple contingency plans will improve the ability of organizations to react quickly to market changes. • Enhance travelers’ comfort and safety. It’s important for employers and suppliers to make sure individuals feel safe and secure traveling again. • Communicate clearly. Information such as corporate travel policies, vendor preferences, and operational changes need to be conveyed clearly, often, and via multiple channels. www.computerworld.com/article/3651108/ the-rise-of-bleisure-trips-how-post-pandemicbusiness-travel-will-change.html
20 | ABA Publications | Africa TRAVEL | March 2022
