The line between business and leisure travel has never seemed so fine. Concur has analysed its booking data for the whole of 2017, and by identifying stays including Friday night, estimates that the share of bleisure has increased by 46% on the market EMEA last year. Worldwide, the increase is estimated at 20%.
According to the study, the increase occurred in every month of last year, but it was in March that the counters went wild, with an increase of 81%, well ahead of February (+49%) and May (48%).
Unsurprisingly, young business travellers are the most affected, but the generation gap is not as wide as expected. Millenials account for 38% of bleisure stays, compared with 31% for Generation W and 31% for Baby Boomers.
The focus on the EMEA market also shows that the destinations most conducive to extended travel are in Tel AvivLondon and Paris. Dubai and Frankfurt complete the winning five.
As for the profile of the companies concerned, Concur points out that small businesses are not spared - one in five SMEs practise bleisure - and the sectors most affected are industry, technology and pharmaceuticals.
For Emma MaslenManaging Director of SAP Concur in the UK, the rise of bleisure goes hand in hand with the advent of new players in the business travel sector: " this trend coincides with the upward growth trajectory of the platform economy (...) as Airbnb allowing travellers to find cost-effective and flexible accommodation that allows them to make the most of both worlds. In fact, 70 % of the Airbnb bookings we studied included a Saturday night, compared with just 10 % for hotel bookings." .
