The attitude towards bleisure is chaning, a new survery states.
Bleisure (‘business + leisure’) visitors are people who add extra days to their conference or
business trip for leisure activities such as sightseeing, sports, entertainment, or simply
relaxation, turning their business visit into a holiday experience. Since the relaxation of
travel restrictions linked to the Covid pandemic, Bleisure has been growing fast in Europe
and beyond, as a growing number of people choose to prolong their business trips for
leisure purposes.
Because of the number of participants they attract, association conferences have the
potential to add significantly to the Bleisure trend, boosting tourism in the destinations
where these events are held. But is that potential being realised?
This new report, Bleisure in Association Conferences, reveals the results of the first survey
of association conference planners worldwide that focuses specifically on their members’
attitudes towards spending extra days for leisure activities in conference destinations. The
survey also explores current trends in the provision of pre- and post-conference tours as
well as spouse programmes.
One-third of respondents reported that the leisure attractions of cities are a very important
factor for them, when they are choosing destinations for their events. Less than 1 in 5 of the
conference planners surveyed said that leisure attractions were completely unimportant to
them.
When asked to estimate the average percentage of their conference participants who
usually stay longer in the destination for leisure purposes, over 1 in 5 of the respondents
admitted that they did not know because this was something that they did not measure. But
over one-third of respondents reported that 30% or more of their participants spend extra
days in the conference destinations for leisure activities, before or after the actual event.
In response to the question of whether Bleisure was a growing phenomenon for their
conference participants, the two most common responses were that it was either ‘growing’
(approximately 30% of the respondents) or ‘staying the same’ (approximately 30% of the
respondents). However, almost 20% reported that Bleisure as an activity was declining
among their conference participants, mainly due to financial challenges, increasing work
pressure or family obligations.
The findings revealed in Bleisure in Association Conferences are significant for all
destination marketing organisations and also for conference planners regarding the current
attitudes of association members towards adding Bleisure elements to the conferences they
attend. The report may be downloaded free from here.
