Do you know what bleisure travel is? It is a portmanteau of the words business and leisure and is a growing trend in the travel industry. Many travellers now seek to extend their business trips with some leisure activities. This is an opportunity that could be very beneficial for the hospitality sector.
In this article, we are going to suggest 5 ideas for hotels to get the most out of the bleisure travel trend and attract these modern business travellers to your accommodation centres.
What is business and leisure travel?
As mentioned above, the term “bleisure” is a portmanteau of the words business and leisure. Thus, the emerging bleisure travel trend consists of combining work with leisure in the same trip.
A few years ago, business travel was exclusively for work reasons, with employees having little or no free time to relax at their destination. Few people extended their trip more days than was agreed!
However, changing lifestyles and the ever-higher expectations of business travellers have helped popularise so-called bleisure travel.
Bleisure trips enable the most adventurous to opt for extended stays after completing their work commitments, or even beforehand. This makes it easy for them both to enjoy leisure activities and visit tourist locations, trying the local food and immersing themselves in the culture of that particular corner of the world they have ended up in.
Leisure and business trips: Ideas for hotels
Bleisure travel can have enormous benefits for companies. By allowing their employees to take advantage of this trend, they can increase the motivation and commitment of their teams. In addition, leisure times during trips can foster creativity, inspiration and new ideas, which translate into a positive impact on work performance.
These booming business and leisure trips are also an exciting opportunity for accommodation centres to offer memorable experiences for their guests. Would you like some suggestions as to how hotels can make the most of bleisure travel?
1. Offer inspiring workspaces and spacious rooms
Business travellers need adequate spaces to work while at the hotel. In addition to providing fast, stable and reliable free Wi-Fi, hotel owners should offer spacious rooms and create inspiring but functional workspaces.
A great option is to design meeting rooms equipped with technology, co-working areas with ergonomic workstations or even outdoor areas with seating and an electrical connection. By providing attractive work environments, your hotel can attract business travellers who want a comfortable, productive place to do business.
If you want to keep these areas protected to gain the trust of your customers, you can rely on Omnitec's hotel security solutions. Our electronic locks and access control devices will make them feel safe, comfortable and more than satisfied.
2. Offer wellness programmes
Wellness is an integral part of bleisure travel, which is highly valued by business travellers. So, if you have a hotel, you should offer your guests wellness programmes to help them relax during their stay.
These are promotional packages including services such as spas, gyms, access to certain areas, yoga classes and outdoor activities: some great options for your guests to find the ideal balance of work and leisure.
3. Provide local experiences
One of the main motivations behind bleisure travel is the chance to explore new places. As a hotel owner, you can take advantage of this by offering business travellers original and outstanding local experiences.
Guided tours to nearby places of interest, recommendations for popular restaurants and even collaborations with local businesses offering exclusive discounts for your guests are some very effective ideas.
4. Provide personalised concierge services
Bleisure travellers often have busy schedules and little free time. So making their stay easier by offering personal concierge services, customised to their individual needs is a very good option.
This could include arranging transport to and from the airport, booking restaurants, buying tickets for events or planning leisure activities. These may be the reasons why a company chooses your hotel for a business trip!
5. Increase hotel security
If you want to attract more bleisure travellers, you must make sure you have a reliable security system, and at Omnitec we can help you achieve this.
Our electronic locks, minibars, hotel safes, energy saving, access control devices and many more technological appliances will add to the equipment at your hotel. We have innovative, complete solutions to show your centre in the best light and make it more attractive.
So, are you ready to take advantage of the bleisure travel trend at your hotel? Get in touch with our team and we will help you reinforce the security of your accommodation centre; making it the most popular destination for business travellers.