French employees love business trips, and are increasingly looking for ways to make the pleasure last longer. bleisure. This is confirmed by a study published on 25 January by Booking.com Businessaccording to which 49% of the French enjoy their business trips, and thatone traveller in two (49%) have extended their trip as part of bleisure. This trend should continue this year - and a priori contribute to the economy of business travel - as almost half of those surveyed (46%) think that they will be able to extend their business trip. will travel more in the course of their work in 2017 than in 2016.
The business arm of the hotel booking giant even believes that French professionals are ready to do more. some efforts in terms of remunerationin exchange for more frequent travel. " 25% of French employees would accept lower pay in exchange for more frequent business trips "The trend is particularly marked among the youngest employees, as confirmed by Ripsy Bandourian, Director of Product Development for Booking.com Business: "... the number of young people in the workforce is growing at an alarming rate. This new generation who works on laptops with a coffee in hand, is increasingly mobile, in every sense of the word: both a fan of mobile devices and flexible in her travel plans, she is always looking for ways to combining business and leisurea phenomenon well summed up by the English term bleisure. These employees therefore expect their superiors to take account of their wishes to mobility and flexibility they are even prepared to negotiate their salary accordingly "she insists.
Companies need to be flexible to meet the expectations of the new generation of business travellers
This " a generation that can't stand still "As described in the summary of the study, the French business travel industry also stands out for its responsiveness. A quarter of French business travellers (24%) would have booked their stay abroad less than four weeks before departure. Booking.com Business therefore concludes that their companies need to get up to speed: " Companies must demonstrate flexibility to meet the expectations of the new generation of business travellers, by enabling them to discover destinations, learn more about the world of business and discover new markets.use current technologies and applications and to stay in atypical accommodation such as villas or private homes. Travel procedures need to be adapted accordingly, and companies are well advised to let their employees plan, book and manage things themselves their own bookings. The repercussions in terms of employee satisfaction can only be positive and theattractiveness of the company to potential candidates will also be improved "says Ripsy Bandourian.
Finally, this new study also identifies the new geographical trends in business travel, listing the most popular destinations. Asia appears to have the wind in its sails. Based on the increase in bookings over the last twelve months, Booking.com Business estimates that Shanghai, Tokyo and Bangkok are the business destinations recording the strongest growth.
