Erin Reeve | |
August 30, 2017
According to a 2017 GBTA study on business travel, nearly 37% of business travelers took advantage of bleisure travel in 2017 by adding vacation days on to their business trips. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, Bleisure travel is the simple act of adding personal or leisure activities to your work trip’s itinerary.
For business travelers, bleisure travel offers a time-efficient and a less expensive way to vacation by taking out the travel time and costs affiliated with booking fully personal trips. In other words, by extending their business trip into a personal trip (simply by taking on their personal vacation days), business travelers save money by not having to pay the full cost of a flight.
For associations, the trend toward bleisure travel presents a unique opportunity to increase attendance at events and conferences. In fact, associations that hone the bleisure travel trend and choose vacation-ready destinations have already seen boosts in conference attendance. A 2015 study found that 8 out of 10 prospective attendees list conference location as a major deciding factor.
When we consider how much time it takes to travel (especially to locations across the country and around the world), it’s no wonder that bleisure travelers want to enjoy the destinations they visit for work. Since conferences usually take up the majority of the day, there is little time to explore the destination and see the city’s full culture and quirks!
Of course, bleisure travel will appeal to some conference attendees more than others. For example, millennials enjoy bleisure travel far more often than Baby Boomer and Gen X travelers. When we consider how millennials value experiences over things, this comes as no surprise. Therefore, associations that host conferences geared toward millennials should definitely consider a destination-ready location. Need some ideas for your next conference? Take a look at Business Insider’s list of the most popular destinations in the world.
Learn how to track and analyze conference statistics using ClearVantage Association Management Software by heading to the Learning Resources section of Euclid's website.
Resources:
http://associationsnow.com/2017/08/making-bleisure-work-play-next-event/
https://www.gbta.org/foundation/pressreleases/Pages/rls_060817.aspx