After a long exhausting day of deploying solutions, hours of meeting clients, a 12-hour flight serving and smiling at passengers, or after that well-rehearsed 3-hour speech you've given at that conference, you surely deserve some break, right? After all, you traveled and you're away from home. Why not grab dinner in some local diner or see a few nearby spots to enjoy your stay in this foreign land? Even better, why not extend your stay and spend the weekend here?
Read on to know the concept of bleisure travel and how it benefits both employees and employers.
At a Glance
What is Bleisure Travel?
Bleisure travel is a trip for business with some leisure incorporated into it. It is also known as "workcation", short for work and vacation. You can go bar-hopping after a long day of meeting clients or schedule your meeting at a famous local cafe that you want to try. Employers and freelancers have been doing this for the longest time. But is this also a good fit for employees? If it is, why should employers allow it?
Benefits of Bleisure Travel
Bleisure is not only beneficial for employees but also for companies. Here are some benefits one can get from business travel with leisure activities.
For Employees
Employee Work-Life Balance
Business tasks are met plus there's fun since employees get to take a business trip and have a vacation at the same time. They're able to rejuvenate and recharge through this trip and they're reenergized as they go back to the office.
Improved Mental Health
Employees get to destress while on the leisurely part of the trip which reduces stress levels and impacts mental health positively. That's on top of meeting the business travel goal.
Employee Satisfaction
Imagine being able to visit and experience a foreign land at your employers' expense blended with leisurely activities on the side. This would greatly increase employee job satisfaction.
For Employers
Enhanced Productivity
With all the benefits that an employee can get from bleisure travel, such as having a work-life balance, good mental health, and satisfaction, employee morale will increase. They will be able to work more productively and efficiently.
Attraction and Retention of Talent
Since employee morale is increased, absenteeism is reduced. Considering other factors are also met, there will be a reduction in turnover rates. Moreover, knowing that a company has a corporate bleisure travel in place is also an attractive perk in recruitment packages.
Adaptive to Modern Work Trends
With bleisure travel being embraced among companies nowadays, employees have a flexible approach to working remotely. Employees can smoothly switch from remote work settings to leisure activities, and vice versa. This adaptability demonstrates an understanding of the evolving nature of work. Furthermore, it enhances the agility of the organization in responding to effective modern business trends.
Good Brand Image
With the culture of promoting work-life balance and the overall well-being of employees, companies tend to have a better brand image amongst clients, business partners, and even potential talents.
Strategic Business Networking
Employees can engage with clients and business partners in a more relaxing atmosphere since it can be seamlessly integrated with a luxurious activity. They can also meet potential clients and partners during conferences and events, thus making it a good business networking strategy.
Does it seem attractive? As employees, there are some things to consider when we travel on our employer's dime. Here are some.
Things Employees Should Consider in Planning a Bleisure Travel
Planning Phase
Check your employer's corporate travel policy for the following.
What expenses are covered by the company? These could be plane tickets, hotel bookings, hotel transfers, car rentals/ taxi fees, meal allowance, etc. All business expense receipts should be kept and organized for liquidation/reimbursement purposes.
Consider extending your trip on the weekends. If your last day falls on a Friday and you'd want to spend the weekend at the destination, will your company approve? Not all companies would, but I've known some who would permit this. It won't hurt to ask your manager or HR. Of course, if there's no work involved on the weekend, no overtime payment is rendered.
Can your family join you? Let your company know if you plan to tag your family or partner along. Naturally, you will be responsible for covering all personal expenses. Nevertheless, since your company will cover the cost of your own roundtrip flight tickets, your overall travel expenses will be reduced.
Know your Visa Requirement
Verify if you need to obtain a visa. Some companies handle the visa application process, while others may require you to arrange it yourself. Either way, it's best to ask your employer about the process. For someone holding a not-so-powerful passport, Â I consistently research visa requirements for each country I visit. Some countries may require Visa approval beforehand and issue e-Visa or glued ones. Some may issue traditional stamped visas or e-Visas at the immigration counter, and some may not require any since agreements exist between those countries.
Plan the activities and places you'd want to visit.
Research the activities to try and popular spots to visit. Depending on your free time and energy, you can plan on going to a gorgeous beach 2 hours away from your hotel, grab a few beers and local snacks at a great pub nearby before you hit the sack, or book the spa service of your hotel for a relaxing body massage.
Check the season of your travel. While I come from a country with two seasons - wet and dry, other countries have four seasons with extreme temperature differences. Plan your outfit and activities according to the season.
Check for upcoming festivals and organized events near you. Is there an upcoming fall festival nearby? How about any local festival that coincides with your trip? Festivals are a great way to immerse ourselves in the culture of a foreign land.
Prepare a budget for your leisure time.
Anything that's for leisure is a personal expense. If you plan on eating out at an expensive restaurant, renting a car for a long drive to a certain spot, or booking a hotel during your non-working weekend stay, the expenses will be yours.
During the Trip
Work first, leisure second.
Have fun but be mindful. While on this trip, you represent your company in every transaction you're engaged in. So have fun but be mindful of your actions.
Business first. This trip is meant primarily for business so ensure that you can flexibly switch from the leisure part to remote work settings. Ensure that your responsibilities such as answering phone calls and responding to emails are fulfilled even though you're on the go. Understandably, your response time will be a little slower since connection is not guaranteed outside the office. You may set up an Out-of-Office notice on your email to notify senders about the delay.
Remember, 'Uncertainty is the only certainty'. So if some things didn't work out as planned, don't fret. There might be more opportunities for you to tour this country.
Enjoy and take time to destress and rejuvenate while on this trip.
See this blog for tips on how to pack lightly and define your essentials for your upcoming bleisure travel.
Enjoy your upcoming bleisure trip!