Bleisure Traveler – The New Type of Guest

What do you get when you combine business with leisure? The Bleisure traveler; a new type of guest for hotels across the globe.

More and more the boundaries between work and leisure are blurring. In a world where we are so eternally plugged into our phones, emails and meetings it’s not surprising that business travelers of all types are making a little extra time for themselves.

Hence bleisure, and the opportunities for hotels that it represents.

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Why is Bleisure Travel so Popular?

What’s the typical Guest Type for Bleisure Trips?

How Can Your Hotel Attract Bleisure Travellers?

• Bleisure Packages
• Focus on Business First
• Easy Leisure / Adventure Add-ons
• Personalised Hotel Services
• Promote Loyalty

Make the Most out of Bleisure Guests

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Why is Bleisure Travel so Popular?

Bleisure has come about because of a convenient blend of overworking, and the need to blow off steam.

Bleisure or workcation, different names but the idea is the same. Typically business people commit to several days of high-intensity meetings at a location and experience a great deal of pressure. It’s no surprise that extending the trip by a couple of days to blow off steam is a highly recommended and enjoyable option.

However the reason that bleisure has blossomed into an international phenomenon is due to the rise of more guest types. A younger, tech-savvy generation that values travel, experience, adventure and cuisine while working remotely have vastly increased the bleisure travel industry. 

These individuals are known as digital nomads.

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What’s the typical Guest Type for Bleisure Trips?

As all hoteliers know, identifying your hotel guest type is essential for successfully marketing your hotel. Regardless of location, hotel type or standards, there is a guest type for every hotel.

Due to the rise of remote working, and especially the digital nomad, the guest types for hotels have expanded and altered. This has particularly increased bleisure travel.  Bleisure travel guest types can now include:

• The high-income corporate executive
• The startup founder
• The digital nomad

Broadly speaking each of these guest types have a high income and money to burn. They also have a vast interest in local cuisine and culture, while at the same time requiring excellent facilities, fast Wi-Fi and a comfortable atmosphere to wind-down in. 

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Especially important to remember is that while corporate executives tend to be older bleisure guests, the latter two categories are becoming increasingly filled with Millenials and, more recently, Gen-Z guests.

Thanks to the opportunities that remote working offers, the tech-savvy younger generation simply need budget travel, a laptop, a smartphone and a decent internet connection. They are equipped and ready to work from any location that presents itself.

But more importantly:

They are ready to work from any Hotel that markets itself properly!

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How Can Your Hotel Attract Bleisure Travellers?

While location does indeed play a big part in which bleisure guests will come knocking round your area of the woods, there are a number of hotel marketing strategies that you can undertake in an effort to promote your hotel best to them. 

Bleisure Packages

It’s one thing to attract bleisure travelers, however you can also create bleisure travelers. It’s easy to convert a business trip into a bleisure trip by adding the option of discounted add-on nights.

According to research, 60% of business trips turn into bleisure trips. Your hotel can increase the stay of business guests by offering incremental discounts and highlighting nearby facilities, activities and amenities. For example, 10% of one extra night, or 20% off for two extra nights.

Focus on Business First

The difference between bleisure and leisure is the business, and there is a reason why it comes first. 

Your corporate guests, digital nomads and startup founders prioritise their business over everything else. This means that the ideal hotel has:

• High-speed, free internet
• Plenty of power sockets
• Meeting room availability
• Co-working space
• Access to travel and work opportunities

But it doesn’t end there. 

As the busy little bees that they are, bleisure guests can also require add-ons which should be ready to go and announced to potential guests. These can include dinner & breakfast room service, washing, ironing & dry cleaning services, and other options that take care of the essential needs of guests.

Also hotels must bear in mind that the tech-savvy bleisure guests that are constantly in a rush will highly appreciate contactless check-in and check-out services. Time is money for digital entrepreneurs and every little counts.

Easy Leisure / Adventure Add-ons

While digital nomads especially have a penchant for experiencing local cultures, events and food, all bleisure travelers have an interest in leisure. 

Whether it’s winding down with a massage (in-house or under agreement with a nearby local establishment), yoga classes, pilates classes, cocktails or live music. Anything and everything can be arranged either in-house or under agreement with local facilities.

Make sure to not forget your local entertainment potential. Whether it’s guided tours of unique local landmarks, diving experiences, going off-road on an ATV for the day, your guests are only limited by your imagination and coordination. Arrange discounted versions of these trips with nearby businesses and everyone wins.

Personalised Hotel Services

Personalisation wins over all hotel guests, not just bleisure guests, but you can use that extra knowledge that guests give to enhance the experience of their stay at your hotel. 

Around 85% of travelers say that personalised hotel services help them make a decision when selecting their preferred hotel. With access to basic guest information via direct bookings, you can begin the process of “getting to know your hotel guest” and offering uniquely tailored options for each guest. These can include:

• Taxi reservations
• Allergy / Food Requests
• Room preference (ie. view)
• Room service requests

If you are a boutique hotel you may be able to glean this information from direct correspondence with your guests. However many hotels are using automated emails to compile this information for guests, or provide checklist surveys ahead of guest arrival.

Promote Loyalty

Perhaps this is the most important method of your hotel marketing strategy when it comes to bleisure travelers. With repeated business trips, these travelers have the potential to become an incredibly important resource to capitalise upon.

A single bleisure traveler that you can convert into a loyal, repeat guest not only ensures an increase in hotel-guest relationship, a steady rate of rooms filled, but also star reviews to all of their business colleagues.

That is why repeat-stay offers are an ideal hook for bleisure travelers who enjoy their stay at your hotel. Other essential loyalty rewards include freebies, colleague referrals, discounts and special prices.

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Make the Most out of Bleisure Guests

Thanks to the world today, bleisure travelers are showing no signs of diminishing any time soon. In fact, they are only set to grow. With business trips at a steady pace, it only takes a good marketing strategy to turn business into bleisure.

The best part is that bleisure guests will often return as simply leisure guests. Once you’ve shown of your stellar hotel quality – they don’t need the excuse of business to make their visit!

The trick is optimising your hotel’s online presence to make yourself known as an excellent hotel for bleisure guests. Luckily that’s where we come in. As a hotel digital marketing agency we make sure that you optimise your marketing strategy. From increasing your hotel’s SEO to ensuring that your hotel website page load speed is the best it can be, we take care of it all.

We also offer completely free hotel marketing audits for EVERY hotel. Just fill in the form for a free hotel marketing audit and one of our hotel marketing specialists will get back to you to arrange a short meeting to talk about your hotel marketing needs.

You’ve got a hotel? We’ve got your back!