Best of both worlds
Adding a weekend or holiday on to a business trip has become the norm. Jenny Southan reports from our recent editor’s lunch
‘Adding on some holiday usually means employees return happier, more relaxed and productive.’
More and more of us are combining business trips with leisure time. Recent data from Carlson Wagonlit Travel showed that between 2011 and 2015, 20 per cent of travellers combined work with time off (indicated by trips of two nights or more that started or ended with a Saturday-night stay). Our own latest survey showed that readers added an average of two holidays to business trips a year.
The subject was discussed during a recent editor’s lunch in a private dining room of the Royal Exchange Grand Café in London, hosted by our sponsor, Japanese airline ANA. One of the courses served was award-winning dish “Piero Donburi N7” (calamari, scallops and prawns seared in sesame oil with ponzu sauce), which was available earlier this year in ANA’s business class cabins between London and Tokyo, and was created by Piero Leone, head chef of Sauterelle, the Royal Exchange’s other on-site restaurant.
We asked readers for their views on “bleisure” and started with the obvious question – “Have you ever combined a work trip with holiday?” The answer was a resounding “yes”.
One person said: “I travel to Geneva quite often for work – earlier this year I stayed on for the weekend to go skiing. Last year I made sure my trip coincided with the Geneva Motor Show. In fact, I have a separate calendar for events around the world so I can time my trips to fit in with them.”
Another reader pointed out: “Adding on some holiday usually means employees return happier, more relaxed and productive.” It also gives them more time to overcome jet lag. One participant said: “Business trips are there to collect miles and points, while leisure trips are to spend them. How our staff use their miles is up to them – it’s a tax-free bonus.”
Combining work and pleasure isn’t a recent phenomenon. One reader reminisced about the era of round-the-world tickets: “You could fly from London to Tokyo, spend Tuesday to Thursday working and then jet off to Hawaii for a few days before starting work on Monday in New York.”
He added: “These days, if you include a Saturday-night stay, flights are usually cheaper, so why not stay the weekend? Even if you
fly your partner out to join you, by paying for a few extra nights in a hotel with points, it can still be cost-effective.”
For ANA, the interest comes as a result of Japan hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Olympic Games in 2020. With nonstop flights from London taking longer than 11 hours, there’s the possibility for travellers to combine meetings with sporting events, or simply to experience the attractions of Tokyo and locations further afield such as Hakone, Kamakura, Mount Fuji and Kyoto.
On the other hand, sometimes you’d rather escape a city as soon as possible. One reader said: “If I am doing business in Lagos then there is no chance my wife will want to come out. But when working in Milan, combining it with a weekend in Lake Como is wonderful.” In Europe, CWT says the most popular “bleisure” cities are Barcelona, Istanbul, Lisbon and Nice. In the US, it’s Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami and Honolulu.
One reader said: “I go to India a lot on business and my wife and I have combined it with a visit to the Taj Mahal, popped up to Jodhpur from Delhi or down to Kerala. To experience all that is amazing and it’s all done on the back of a fully expensed business trip.”
However, if your partner cannot join you it can create resentment. Another reader said: “My wife and I have agreed to use our holiday allowance together – so if I take five days off and she doesn’t, then we are out of sync. ”Also, while it may seem like a no-brainer to combine work and play, your company’s travel policy might not agree. One reader said: “There is a big difference between being an employee and being a business owner. If you’re the boss then you can do what you want. Within an organisation, it can be difficult to set rules as to who can benefit from adding on time to business trips and who can’t.”
This is an issue that has been bothering travel managers for some time. As reported by our sister publication Buying Business Travel, a recent study by American Express Global Business Travel showed that managers reported a 70 per cent year-on-year increase in enquiries about combining business and leisure.
Still, as one person said: “We found that adding leisure travel coverage to our policy could be done for a nominal amount.” Another added: “I just buy annual worldwide travel insurance for any personal trips I take.”
As remote working and work-life balance become key priorities for the modern business person, it may not be long before the distinction between travelling for work and pleasure disappears altogether.
‘You could fly from London to Tokyo, work Tuesday to Thursday, then jet off to Hawaii for a few days before starting work on Monday in New York’