Business people take some time off at Mombo Camp in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Business travellers usually build in extra time to acclimatise and see the sites in a particular country whenever they travel.
In Summary
To make the throes of business travel a little bit more pleasant, business travellers are combining business and leisure with the hope of striking a work-life balance as Jonathan Adengo writes.
Travellers do not want all-serious work trips anymore. They prefer taking off some time to relax and explore different things. Jack, an insurance broker working with a global insurance firm in Canada recently came to Uganda to oversee some business. However, after work was done, he decided to spend his last weekend at the source of Africa’s longest river, the Nile in Jinja District.
Business travellers — especially those who are beginning their careers — are excited to see the world and are ready to find ways of maximising their travel time. A growing trend of business travellers combining work and play is described as bleisure.
Bridge Street Global Hospitality – which runs serviced apartments in more than 60 countries polled 640 international travellers. The survey showed that 83 per cent of respondents use free time on business trips to explore the cities they are visiting.
According to Bridge Street Hospitality report for 2014 published by Skift, a travel website, ‘bleisure’ is already a way of life among many business travellers world over.
By combining business and leisure, travelers gain experiences and save money. The Bridge Street Global Hospitality survey shows 96 per cent believe they gain cultural experience and knowledge through business trips.
Travel industry specialist Frederic Gonzalo, who has spent over 20 years within the hospitality industry attributes the rise in ‘bleisure’ travel to the fact that people have become pressed for time, especially as business becomes global.
“A lot of business travellers are on the road quite often and don’t know how else to strike the work/family balance. For the new generation, business trips are not just about work but about quality time,” he says.
Just as leisure travellers are always working, business travelers are now often extending their stays to include a leisure component.
Andrew Nganga, the general manager of Great Lakes Safaris, says there has been an increase in people who mix business and leisure.
Great Lakes Safaris one of the largest tours and Travel Company in Uganda, which operates three different lodges across the country experiences an influx of travellers who come to the country for business and leisure.
Nganga however notes that before they confirm any bookings with them, the first thing the people always ask if whether they have Wi-Fi/ Internet connection in the rooms.
“This is because people now move with their offices; they want to work while on leisure,” he notes.
Nganga says that because of the growth in technology advancement today, working while doing leisure also makes people more productive. The Bridge Street Global Hospitality survey shows that about 78 per cent feel adding leisure days to business travel adds value to work assignments.
Nganga who affirms, “Business has become leisure,” says the evolution of travel technologies and social media has changed the way people perceive work these days.
Technology has helped inform customers about opportunities at their destinations. He says they engage more with people on social media. The hotels, travel companies are very active on social media and as such a business traveler can quickly know what leisure spots and activities are available.
“Hotels, restaurants and destinations are monitoring their updates and adding suggestions on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to build up the publicity for the destination,” he explains. “Likewise, the industry wants to keep in touch with its customers after they leave – maybe that business traveller will return one day on a leisure trip.”
Bleisure can benefit business because in the process of relaxing, one can cut a deal. For most marketers hoping to sell a product, leisure spots like golf resorts where the potential clientele meet to relax and blow off some steam are their target areas.
The report states that nearly four out of five responders agreed that adding leisure days to business trips added value to work assignments. However, while a desire for ‘bleisure’ is growing amongst employees, majority of businesses are yet to embrace the concept. Very few have a formal policy addressing bleisure.
Clear and fair guidance around ‘bleisure’ trips will, we believe, help foster trust between companies and their employees as well as motivate them, make them more productive and create a positive attitude to work/life balance.
Cons of bleisure
• Limits socialising. Some people are failing to socialise because they are always on their smart phones.
• There is also a lot of time wastage which time would easily be put to accomplish other pressing business matters.
• It is expensive.
• Companies have not yet understood the concept and as such business travelers are often restricted to work only.
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