New trends in the world of business trips

Monday, 24 february 2020 | Redacción CEU

There are many people who must travel to other cities and countries as part of their work several times a year. Traveling is usually one of the most appreciated work incentives by professionals. However, this happens when certain conditions are met such as workers having free time in these trips. There are also many professionals who get tired of going from one place to another, as this fact prevents them from having a balance between their private and their professional life. These are some of the reasons why some companies have considered appropriate to adopt new approaches in the world of business trips. What are the changes they are betting on?

Traveling for business offers several advantages like getting to know new places, discovering new cultures, improving language skills, and growing both professionally and personally. Without a doubt, this is the most visible side of business trips; the things which the majority of people think of when they dream of having a job that involves traveling frequently. By contrast, professionals who regularly travel for work are aware that: <<not all that glitters is gold>>. These trips may also have some disadvantages such as problems related to maintaining a balance between personal and work life, the level of stress professionals are under, problems related to the means of transport that they use, etc. It is not surprising that new trends and habits appear in order to try to solve these and other problems. Besides, these are changes that are also affected by the development of technology and the adoption of new work approaches.

How do new corporate travelers move?

• Leisure time

One of the consequences of traveling for work frequently is that the boundaries between personal and professional life are blurred. This is the reason why a new trend has emerged within the world of business whose goal is to try to combine the concepts of work and leisure. This new way of understanding corporate trips is known under the name of "bleisure" (a term which is formed by the words "business" and "leisure"). This new approach arises from the interest of workers in taking advantage of this type of trips for sightseeing or enjoying spare-time activities. The usual practice is to schedule the trip at the end of the week in order to extend the stay and enjoy a few days off in the destination. This trend has had such an impact that it is already taken into account by many travel managers in companies. In this case, the challenge for the firms that bet on it is to find the right balance between work and leisure. Likewise, bleisure is also having an impact on the hotel industry. This sector is working in order to adapt itself to it, by designing a whole catalog of new experiences related to gastronomy, sports, cultural activities and social interaction. The accommodations focused on the attention of this kind of travelers are even changing their designs to offer leisure areas such as rooftop terraces.

• More customized trips 

The professionals demand a personalized attention in business trips, as they can come across many setbacks like flight delays, lost luggage, last-minute changes, etc. For these travelers it is important to receive the support either from other professionals such as travel managers or tools that help them better to manage these unforeseen events. On the one hand, more and more companies begin to understand that customized planning is beneficial for both the company and the employees. On the other hand, many firms are offering greater autonomy to their employees when it comes to managing these trips. Most travelers resort to digital platforms based on planning, expense management or reservations. The problem is that these services are not usually connected among them. This leads precisely to one of the trends that is perceived in the sector: the design of new platforms that enable users to customize their trips centrally.