SAP Concur: What employers should not forget about bleisure trips
Working under palm trees: Home office is all the rage. Photo: iStock.com/Jasmina007
If employees want to combine business with pleasure, companies should be prepared. Travel policies and travel requests must be compatible.
The combination of business and leisure travel has now become established. Bleisure travel has become a welcome business. Data analyst Euromonitor estimates global spending at $200 billion, and the trend is rising. The challenge for companies, however, is to clearly separate and coordinate private travel wishes, travel policies, and booking processes.
This isn't always easy, as few working professionals would ever consider bringing a partner, let alone their entire family, to a meeting. At the same time, however, bleisure trips are often only feasible for business travelers if they don't have to undertake them alone.
Trend number one: Partner must
Results from an SAP Concur study show that partners are the preferred companions of business travelers (76 percent). One in four respondents would like to bring their children. Therefore, clear guidelines are needed regarding whether and in what form travel with companions is supported by the company.
Trend number two: cross-generational relevance
Studies show that Generation Z (68 percent), Baby Boomers (63 percent), Generation X (48 percent), and Millennials (44 percent) are all interested in combining business and leisure travel. This cross-generational appeal makes bleisure an important factor in employee recruitment and retention. The German Bundestag's Tourism Committee underscores this by considering flexible working arrangements such as bleisure an important factor in attracting skilled workers. Companies that offer bleisure options can thus gain a competitive advantage in the battle for talent.
Trend number three: Work-life balance with separate funds
For business trips, expense reimbursement is clearly regulated. But who covers the costs for days spent for personal reasons? After all, longer travel times can result in higher airfares. With each additional day of travel, accommodation and meal costs also increase. Leisure activities are not even planned for on most business trips. However, this could change in the future: According to the German Travel Association (DRV) , 44 percent of German business travelers are eager to explore new places. It is important to clarify when business travelers themselves need to pull out their credit cards. This includes, in particular, setting clear boundaries between when business travel time ends and personal travel time begins.
Trend number four: Booking made easy
The question of costs is one thing, the question of the booking channel is another. For travel expense reporting, it is crucial whether companies allow their business travelers to use company channels to book leisure activities. This is an offer that many bleisure travelers will certainly gladly take advantage of to avoid additional expenses. To ensure bookings remain transparent, however, companies should clearly define when company booking channels may be used and how private expenses must be identified. Digital solutions now exist for this.
Trend number five: prefer flexible
Not only are bleisure trips becoming increasingly popular, but bookings of transportation or overnight stays with providers such as FREE NOW or Airbnb are also continuing to grow. Bleisure data from SAP Concur shows that 70 percent of bookings with hotel alternative providers typically include a Saturday night. For traditional hotel bookings, this was only the case for 10 percent of stays. At the same time, results from the latest SAP Concur survey show that 73 percent of German business travelers strive for flexibility. They particularly value the freedom to choose their mode of transportation (47 percent) and accommodation (42 percent). It is therefore becoming increasingly important to involve travel companies that business travelers also use and value for their personal travel needs.
Trend number six: Sustainability counts
The importance of sustainability in business travel is steadily increasing. 27 percent of German business travelers would decline a trip due to its environmental impact or the lack of sustainable travel options. Companies are therefore faced with the task of promoting environmentally friendly travel options such as domestic rail travel or environmentally certified hotels. Bleisure travel can make an important contribution here, as employees supplement their already planned business trips with private stays, thus avoiding additional travel to and from the airport. This not only improves work-life balance but also reduces environmental impact.
(thy)
You might also be interested in:SAP Concur simplifies booking process for business trips with SBB
businesstraveller
