Almost all hoteliers agree that the bleisure trend has become a reality in their establishments. Arrive earlier to discover the city, follow up a business trip with a weekend of leisure, sometimes with the family: the winning formula According to a recent study by SAP Concur, carried out in partnership with Wakefield Research, in which 600 travel managers and 3750 business travellers from around the world took part last April.
According to these, 22 % of employees would refuse a business trip if they could not extend it for a personal trip. In another not-so-distant vein, employees are increasingly inclined to refuse business trips if they are not compatible with their personal schedules. This is despite the fact that a large majority (67%) consider that such trips are useful for their careers. There are also 24 % who offer a business trip if they can't make a few changes that fall outside the scope of their company's policy.
While the boundaries between leisure and work are becoming increasingly blurred, could it be that companies are in the process of raising barriers to this phenomenon? " It may seem simple for employees to work from anywhere or to combine holidays with business travel, the reality for businesses is much more complex" emphasises SAP Concur. Cost control, greater sustainability of travel: travel managers' priorities are not always those of their fellow travellers.
More than a quarter (27%) of employees said they had experienced reduction in remote working authorisations during their personal trips - a solution that would prevent them from taking more days off -, while 25 % cite a limitation on leisure extensions to their business trips. At the same time, 91 % of business travellers have noted a reduction in the flexibility offered when travelling. While 35 % of travel managers are accommodating to requests for travel flexibility, almost as many (32 %) are focusing primarily on reducing costs.
With this in mind, companies have readjusted the comfort options for their employees, refusing almost a third of requests (28%), whether to spend the night to avoid long days travelling or to take a non-stop, but more expensive flight. Business or premium class flights are also refused in a third of cases, with companies also favouring public transport over taxis or car sharing.
In the end, two thirds of business travellers (67%) find that their company places greater importance on pre-travel authorisations, which were not previously necessary. In more than a quarter of cases (27%), this applies to all trips. Corporate CSR objectives are also a factor. Using sustainable travel options is a priority for 33 % of the travel managers questioned. The trends are sometimes contradictory: while almost 30% of travellers believe that their company focuses more on eco-responsible travel than on meeting their expectations or reducing costs, almost as many (27%) say that their company limits more sustainable travel because it is more expensive.
Bleisure, cost reduction, sustainability: torn between sometimes conflicting expectations of their travellers and their company, more than a third of travel managers (36%) agree that their role will become more difficult. Over the coming year, but probably for a long time to come.
