‘Bleisure’ is a rising travel trend among urban Indians, particularly millennials

An increasing number of urban Indians are taking business trips that are extended for leisure, finds a survey. The trend is called ‘bleisure’.

Have you ever visited a place for business but ended up staying back a few more days to explore it like a local? You’re not alone. With more and more Indian professionals travelling on business purpose, a report has revealed that these trips are being extended for leisure. The trend which is slowly blurring the lines between business and leisure travel. About 38% of the total respondents took one to three business trips, out of which 29% had extended at least one of their trips for personal travel, according to FCM ‘Bleisure Report, India’.

The lines between corporate and leisure travel are increasingly blurring.(Shutterstock)

“Business travel has always been restricted and policy driven. While leisure travel, particularly outbound, has been niche with very low penetration,” FCM Travel Solutions (Indian subsidiary of FCTG, Australia) Managing Director Rakshit Desai told PTI here. “However, the survey has unlocked a remarkable trend called Bleisure (business and leisure). It is interesting to note that the lines between corporate and leisure travel are increasingly blurring,” Desai said.

While millennials are likely to extend their work trip with colleagues, older people would prefer a family member. (Shutterstock)

In the report, FCM Travel Solutions has included business travel bookings and expense reporting data from the survey undertaken among 800 corporates and small businesses in India. FCM Travel Solutions is the Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group, Australia. The report revealed that ‘Bleisure’ travel has recently become an unconventional employee perk in India with 65.5%of the respondents saying their employer allowed them to add leisure travel onto business trips.

However, 27.6% respondents said their companies do not permit them to combine personal travel with their business trips, which is the highest among all countries, it said. The surveyed millennials (25 to 34 years old) had the highest appreciation for bleisure travel with 75% considering it a major work perk, the report said. They were also the most likely group to extend a business trip with colleagues (25%), while 50% of respondents in age group of 50, would use the opportunity to travel with a family member or partner, it said.

About 44% of the respondents also favoured ‘bleisure holidays’ that enabled experience and exploration, the report said adding three most popular activities for them usually include sightseeing, dining and art and culture. Besides, 25% of the respondents were more likely to use the time to visit friends and family, it said. Almost 9% of the respondents added personal travel to their business with an objective of saving money and 3% added personal trip to recover from the jet lag before commencing business meetings, the report added.

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