Imagine a time when mixing some leisure with business travel is part of the policy.

Egencia, the corporate travel arm of Expedia, has carried out some research showing a fifth of business travellers in the US, rising to almost a third in Asia, have foregone adding leisure to work trips because they believe it won’t go down well with the boss. In Europe the figure is 15%.

The study, on more than 9,000 Egencia users, also reveals 68% of business travellers take at least one bleisure (business + leisure) trip a year.

And, it seems these trips are well planned with 74% of US business travellers saying they are planning a combined trip in the next six months. For Asia, the figure rises to 87% and for Europe, it’s 68%.

The factors that determine whether to tag on some leisure time are unsurprisingly destination first with almost a third of US business travellers prioritising this factor compared to a quarter of travellers from Asia and Europe.

After destination, how close the weekend is to the business trip and whether friends and family are nearby, emerged as the second and third factors for adding on some leisure time.

Expedia has tracked bleisure travellers in the past to find that activities drive decisions. Research in late 2016 revealed that activities, events and attractions come top of mind when travellers are deciding whether to extend a trip.

Egencia 2018 bleisure trends

A recent study from Travelport shows that Millennials’ preference for adding a leisure element to business trips is driving the need for better digital interactions.

Related reading:

Bleisure – a new travel category to crack