Jack Moran, President & CEO
The combination of business and leisure travel – a new term called “bleisure” – could be a trend that is here to stay. Business travels have slowly, but steadily, have been hitting the road again. Industry experts, such as hotel brand CEO’s and analysts, anticipate their visits might be fewer, though longer, spending more time per trip with their teams and clients than before the pandemic.
The leisure component of bleisure is that business travelers are likely to continue taking advantage of increased flexibility in their household schedules by including family members on their business trips. For example, a salesperson’s spouse can work remotely, and their children can continue schoolwork online. In this case, it may make sense to include a long weekend or family vacation with a client visit or industry event on occasion. Destinations with cultural, historical, and educational attractions may very well include the drive-to coastal towns in Florida along with of course, Orlando, particularly during the winter and spring.
Industry observers believe the appeal of bleisure travel may well extend beyond the recovery period of the hotel industry’s post-pandemic cycle, especially as the pent-up demand for travel steadily exhausts itself over the coming months. Smart owners and management teams need to ensure that they are effectively marketing their hotels and resorts to the surging bleisure segment of travelers and implementing smart revenue management strategies to match the demand.