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Are your travel policies equipped to deal with bleisure demand? The latest bleisure travel statistics reveal the need for flexibility
Explore fresh insights and practical actions!
Whether it’s arriving a day early to explore before a conference or spending a month working mornings from a beachfront villa, the bleisure trend is growing in variation and scope. The numbers for 2026 show a trend that’s only just getting started, fuelled by a workforce that views flexibility as a requirement rather than a perk.
We’ve combed through the latest bleisure travel statistics to uncover where the market’s going. Travelling for work is no longer purely profit-focussed; it’s also a tool to enhance productivity, satisfaction, and well-being. By understanding what business travellers want, HR teams and travel managers will be better placed to fine-tune company bleisure travel policies and meet their needs.
Over the past few years bleisure has long been treated as an emerging trend, but the latest business travel statistics show that it’s now one with lasting power.
1. The global bleisure travel market is predicted to expand at a CAGR of 17.38% over the next decade, growing from 816.24 billion USD in 2025 to a staggering 3,573.74 billion USD in 2034. (Precedence Research)
2. More workers than ever are making bleisure a lifestyle choice, with 18.1 million identifying as digital nomads. (MBO Partners)
3. SME employees are particularly enthusiastic, with 76% regularly extending overseas work trips for leisure time, up from 48% in 2024. Of these, 57% extend their trip by just one or two days, and 32% by three or four. (The Business Travel Magazine)
4. And businesses are rising to the challenge to meet these traveller expectations. Already, 79% of US and UK travellers worked for companies that offered remote working policies, with 66% taking advantage to combine business trips with personal leisure. (IHG)
That means if your company doesn’t already offer a bleisure travel policy, you could be falling behind the competition.
While bleisure travel is now more than just a fleeting trend, its prevalence will vary by region.
5. Currently, North America dominates the bleisure travel market at a market size of 205.69 billion in 2025. (Precedence Research)
6. In a GBTA survey of North American business travellers, 84% felt that the quality of their business travel experience directly impacted their ability to perform, with flexibility correlated with this improved experience. (GBTA)
7. While the North American region made up 36% of the bleisure market share in 2024, this was closely followed by Europe at 29% and the Asia-Pacific region at 24%. (Precedence Research)
8. North America may dominate now, but Europe is on the rise. Forecasted figures show that Europe is expected to expand its share of the bleisure travel market over the next decade, with many companies increasingly encouraging their business travellers to blend work with leisure for a better work-life balance. (Precedence Research)
9. There’s a growing interest in combining leisure with business travel amongst professionals in India as well. Deloitte research shows that over a third (37%) of Indian business travellers reported extending work trips with leisure time. The majority (81%) added one or two days of personal time. (Deloitte)
It’s important to understand these regional variations when crafting your core travel policies, taking into account your company’s reach and expansion plans.
As with regional variations, bleisure uptake varies by generation – but this is rapidly changing. Once preferred by younger generations, in 2026 it’s considered a mainstream benefit for all ages.
10. Gen Z workers have been early adopters of the bleisure trend. In 2023, 87% extended their business trips to work remotely and 91% extended work trips for leisure travel. (The Business Travel Magazine)
New research shows that in 2026; other demographics are catching up to Gen Z:
11. In a YouGov survey of Canadian business travellers, 24% of Gen X workers added leisure travel days to their work trips ‘all or most of the time’, nearly matching 25% of Gen Z respondents who reported the same. (BC Business)
12. Millennials are also matching Gen Z’s enthusiasm for bleisure travel, with 62% planning to extend business trips to include cultural experiences. (Pro Stay)
13. Post-pandemic work trends show 58% of Millennials are already working remotely while travelling, and they’re flexible with their plans, too, with 69% open to booking last minute. (Pro Stay)
That means flexible booking policies are essential not only for Gen Z, but also for Millennial and Gen X employees who want the option to change their plans without penalties.
14. Experienced workers over the age of 60 are also using the opportunity to blend work and travel, enjoying a little pre-retirement exploration. Deloitte figures show 31% of this demographic exploring bleisure opportunities, compared to 44% of Gen X and 54% of Millennials. (Deloitte)
With the generational gap narrowing, it’s worth looking at your talent acquisition and retention strategies to provide workers of all ages the flexible travel policies they prefer. Our business travel trends of 2026 show that today’s workers not only want to merge business and leisure travel – they expect it as a standard perk.
Health, wellness, and business travel are closely intertwined. In 2026, more organisations than ever are prioritising their employees’ well-being, recognising the value of a healthy, happy workforce.
15. The percentage of organisations with a standalone well-being strategy was 57% in 2025, up from 44% in 2020. And employers believe this investment delivers measurable returns beyond healthier employees, including increased engagement (39%) and enhanced performance (38%). (CIPD)
16. Work trips can exert a positive impact on employee travel health, with 52% of business travellers reporting positive mental health impacts and 46% reporting positive physical impacts. (Booking.com for Business)
17. Adding in time for leisure amplifies these positive effects through personalised itineraries that match each business traveller’s unique goals and interests. The benefits are lasting, with studies from the International Society of Travel Medicine showing that improved mood can last for up to five weeks post-trip. (ISTM)
18. And in a global survey, 85% of workers felt that travelling made them feel more positive and optimistic. (IHG)
Business travellers are embracing a hyper-personalised and holistic approach to their own well-being during bleisure trips. Booking.com’s 2026 travel predictions include the rise of the ‘glow-cation,’ where beauty and wellness intersect with travel.
19. In fact, 80% of global travellers surveyed registered interest in at least one beauty or wellness treatment, while 71% were interested in body movement analysis and personalised exercise routines. These interests fall alongside work-related activities. (Booking.com)
20. The influence of wellness is extending from at-home routines to in-office care and travel experiences. Nearly half of US and UK travellers stay active while travelling for business, and 56% actively seek wellness experiences during their journeys. (IHG)
You can satisfy this need for wellness not only through incorporating bleisure policies into your duty of care programme, but also by using tools like Booking.com for Business to find and book accommodation that comes with onsite spas, gyms, and healthy dining outlets.
Beyond the wellness-promoting benefits, encouraging bleisure within your organisation can pay off in other ways.
21. Our Rise of Bleisure Travel report found that 59% of employees surveyed felt that exploring new places improved their on-the-job productivity. (Booking.com for Business)
22. This is further supported by additional research showing that workplace flexibility improves productivity by 11%. At the same time, 87% of hybrid workers felt that having the freedom to work while travelling helped improve their work-life balance. (Karry On)
23. Fragmented journeys involving multiple connections and long commutes cause business travellers to lose productivity. As a result, up to 90% of business travellers report combining work with leisure to enhance their work productivity. (The Business Travel Magazine)
24. With more time to unwind and focus, performance tends to improve. In fact, 75% of business travellers believed that bleisure trips made them more productive, while 38% felt that having a balance of sightseeing and work made the business side of the trip more exciting. (The Business Travel Magazine)
25. There’s a heightened demand for immersive events, with 59% of corporate travel buyers noting an increase in conference attendance. And the best conferences in 2026 lend themselves well to mixing leisure with business travel, leaving time to explore host cities from Las Vegas to Lisbon while enjoying live musical performances and networking events. (Booking.com for Business)
It’s worth perusing the upcoming conference calendar to find events that could inspire travelling teams and lead to new opportunities for growth.
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It’s clear that blending business travel and leisure travel can improve employee health, morale, and productivity. But hybrid working isn’t without its pitfalls, and blurring the lines between work and leisure time has contributed to a growing trend called ‘leavism’.
26. Nearly three in five (59%) of employees surveyed reported working on holiday, 44% spent time answering work-related messages on platforms like Teams and Slack, and 20% brought their work laptop on leisure trips. (CIPD)
27. While 11% of workers reported working on holiday due to direct pressure from their employer, 17% felt personal pressure to do so. (CIPD)
28. Nearly half (47%) of workers report cancelling their planned activities to work during a holiday, and 59% struggled to switch off completely. (MovChan Agency)
When employees are unable to properly unwind during their leisure days due to an always-on working culture, this may negate some of the positive impacts of bleisure travel.
29. It not only increases the risks of stress and burnout for employees, but takes a toll on retention rates, with 10% of employees surveyed quitting jobs as a result of pressure to work during a holiday.
To mitigate these risks, it’s important for your business to create clear remote working policies outlining bleisure travel expectations. A flexible working policy that facilitates bleisure can prevent employees from feeling that they need to work during annual leave.
You can also use tracking tools that delineate which employees are working while travelling, and which are using their shoulder days before or after a work trip for personal time.
30. These clear boundaries can pay off. A study mandating time off for its employees, without work distractions, found that creativity increased by 33%, productivity rose by 13%, and happiness levels rose by 25%. (Harvard Business Review)
There are some unique logistics to consider when drafting bleisure policies that work for you and your travelling employees. You’ll need to include clear expense guidelines, with spending caps on typical expenses like hotels, flights, and meals on leisure days. And when employees are travelling for work, your company is still responsible for them, which means you need to remain informed about plans.
Meeting duty of care and cost management needs while providing the flexible bleisure policies that your workforce wants can be complex. Fortunately, Booking.com for Business is here to help.
Our free travel management solution allows business travellers to find, book, and manage their own itineraries, while giving you full visibility over spend. Plus, with our Genius loyalty programme, you’ll receive exclusive discounts on select accommodation and hire cars to help keep costs in line. And with our Traxo feature, you’ll be able to follow along with traveller itineraries in real time, so you always know where your teams are for quick assistance.
The latest bleisure travel statistics clearly demonstrate why it’s so important for your company to accommodate this trend. The demand for bleisure policies is growing, not just among Gen Z, but across all age groups and regions. Embracing bleisure with flexible travel policies helps improve employee satisfaction and talent retention.
Yet at the same time, bleisure trips can blur the lines between personal and professional working hours. It's a good idea to set clear boundaries to prevent travelling teams from overworking during their leisure times, so that they can maximise the restorative benefits of blended travel.
Overall, you can foster employee satisfaction, productivity, and overall well-being by accommodating and embracing the bleisure trend.
Bleisure allows travelling professionals to enhance their routine work trips with personal experiences. Whether exploring a city’s cultural scene after an event or enjoying a spa weekend after a long week of meetings, bleisure travel gives space for rest and relaxation. This in turn reduces burnout while improving well-being and productivity.
There’s an overall trend towards intentional travel, with linked and multi-destination trips. Wellness is also a decisive bleisure travel trend with impact across the industry, with many workers opting to spend personal time out in nature or indulging in spa, fitness, and beauty treatments. Additionally, workers are extending their business trips to incorporate one or more personal days, and many are bringing friends and family members along.
The bleisure trend requires businesses to adjust their travel policies in several ways. You’ll need to set clear guidelines regarding expenses, so that employees know which travel expenses are covered as business-related and which must be paid as personal expenses. Additional impacts include duty of care. Will the employee be covered by business travel insurance while travelling for leisure? Consider aspects of risk management, compliance, and approvals.
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