Bleisure Travel: The Trend Mixing Business and Leisure Travel

As flexible working becomes more common and travellers place greater value on work-life balance, more people are extending work trips to include personal time. The result is a growing trend known as “bleisure travel”.

Short for "business" and "leisure", bleisure travel blurs the line between work and play. Instead of flying in for a meeting or event and heading straight home, travellers are adding an extra day or two to explore a destination, enjoy local experiences, or simply unwind.

Whether you're attending a conference, meeting clients, or travelling between offices, a bleisure trip can help you get more value from your journey while creating opportunities for rest, discovery, and personal enrichment.

• What is it? Mixing business and leisure travel
• Who is it for? Corporate travellers, remote workers, conference attendees, and digital professionals
• When? Before, during, or after a work trip
• Why? To make the most of a destination, support wellbeing, and enjoy more from every journey
• How? By extending a business trip and adding sightseeing, dining, wellness, or leisure experiences

Bleisure travel combines business and leisure within the same trip. Whether that means arriving early for a conference, extending your stay after client meetings, or fitting in a few local experiences between work commitments, it's a way to make more of your time away.

Instead of viewing a destination solely as a place to work, bleisure travel allows you to experience its culture, cuisine, attractions, and lifestyle.

While bleisure travel is often associated with corporate travellers, it's becoming popular across a wide range of professions and industries.

Bleisure trips may be particularly well suited to:

• Professionals attending conferences, exhibitions, or trade shows
• Employees travelling for client meetings or training
• Remote and hybrid workers who have greater flexibility over where they work
• Business owners and entrepreneurs travelling between cities
• Frequent domestic or international business travellers
• Professionals looking to make more of long-haul work trips

The concept can be adapted to suit different travel styles. For some people, bleisure travel might mean extending a trip by a single night. For others, it could involve staying for a long weekend to experience more of a place before returning home.

From greater flexibility to improved wellbeing, there are several reasons why bleisure travel is becoming a popular way to travel for work.

One of the biggest drivers behind bleisure travel is the desire for healthier work-life balance. Business trips can be demanding: early flights, packed schedules, networking events, and long days of meetings. Adding leisure time creates an opportunity to recharge before returning home.

Even something as simple as spending an extra day exploring hidden gem neighbourhoods in Tokyo, enjoying museums in Sydney, or stretching your legs on some of New Zealand’s best walking trails can make a work trip feel more enjoyable.

Travellers are increasingly looking for ways to maximise the value of time spent away from home. If your flights and accommodation are already partially covered by a business trip, extending your stay can be an efficient way to experience a city or country you've never visited before.

Instead of treating the destination as merely a workplace, bleisure travel allows you to engage with its culture, cuisine, and attractions.

The rise of flexible and hybrid working arrangements has made bleisure travel easier than ever. With reliable Wi-Fi, cloud-based collaboration tools, and video conferencing platforms, many professionals can remain connected while spending additional time in a new environment.

As a result, work and leisure increasingly coexist within the same travel experience.

Travel can be physically and mentally demanding, especially when schedules leave little room for rest.

Adding leisure elements to a work trip can support wellbeing through:

• Extra recovery time between flights
• Opportunities for exercise
• Exposure to new environments
• Reduced travel stress
• Better mental reset before returning to work

Rather than rushing from airport to meeting room and straight back again, bleisure travellers have more opportunity to rest, recharge, and enjoy their surroundings.

A little planning can help you get more out of your time away, turning your business trip into an opportunity to explore, unwind, and experience your destination.

The easiest way to embrace bleisure travel is to add an extra day or two (or more) before or after your work commitments. Whether you're attending a conference, meeting with clients, or travelling for an event, a little additional time gives you the chance to experience your destination beyond the boardroom.

A bleisure trip isn't about filling every free moment with sightseeing. Focus on activities that genuinely interest you, whether that's exploring local food spots, visiting cultural attractions, spending time outdoors, or discovering a new neighbourhood. The best bleisure experiences feel less like a packed itinerary and more like a chance to enjoy being somewhere new.

One of the biggest challenges of bleisure travel is switching off. While it may be tempting to keep checking emails once your meetings are over, setting clear boundaries helps you get the most value from your trip. Finish your workday, close the laptop, and give yourself permission to enjoy your trip.

Business travel can be rewarding, but it can also be tiring. Making time for rest and recovery can help you return home feeling refreshed rather than exhausted. Whether that's fitting in a workout in your hotel’s gym, unwinding at an onsen in Japan, taking a walk along Sydney’s iconic coastline, enjoying a swim, or indulging in wellness experiences in Chiang Mai, small moments of downtime can make a big difference.

The right accommodation can help you seamlessly blend business and leisure. Look for hotels that offer both productive workspaces and opportunities to unwind. Features such as co-working areas, executive lounges, wellness facilities, swimming pools, and on-site restaurants or bars can make it easier to transition from a day of meetings to an evening of relaxation, without needing to leave the hotel.

Accor's diverse network of hotels includes properties designed for both business and leisure travel, making it easier to combine work commitments with opportunities to explore, unwind, and experience more of the places you visit. Members of the ALL Accor loyalty programme can also access benefits such as member rates and other rewards that add value to every stay.

Not every destination is suitable for bleisure travel. The best locations combine business infrastructure with plenty of opportunities to explore outside working hours.

When choosing where to go for a bleisure trip, look for:

• Convenient conference and business facilities
• Reliable public transport and easy airport access
• A variety of restaurants, cafés, and dining experiences
• Cultural attractions such as museums, galleries, and landmarks
• Outdoor activities, parks, walking trails, or waterfront areas
• Wellness experiences, including spas, fitness facilities, and relaxation spaces
• Distinct neighbourhoods that are easy to explore in a short amount of time

Cities such as Dubai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York are popular destinations for bleisure travel because they bring many of these elements together in one place. Choosing somewhere that allows you to fit food, culture, outdoor activities, or wellness experiences into your free time can help you get more from a bleisure trip.

Turning business into bleisure starts with choosing accommodation that supports both work and play. Explore Accor hotels worldwide and discover properties with the facilities, locations, and member benefits that can help you get more from every journey.

Book your stay direct on ALL.com or via the ALL Accor app, and join the free ALL loyalty programme to enjoy member rates, rewards, and benefits that can add value to your future business and leisure trips.