Within the editorial Branding Luxury Tourism in FBiH, we shall mention business tourism as an important and growing branch at global level.
After the coronavirus pandemic, people got rid of restrictions and want to take maximum benefit from the possibility to travel – even as a part of their business. At global level, business people tend to consider the possibility of travel that combines both business and leisure. The concept is termed bleisure.
A recent Booking Business research included 56% business people who agreed about the importance of internal, face-to-face meetings with clients and underlined the need for business travel. However, this kind of travel is also an opportunity for adventure. Namely, one of the ways in which business people around the world wish to take maximum benefit from a business trip is to extend it and add time for leisure.
Regarding the business trips, business travellers wish to explore the destination of their trip, either by extending the business trip to add some free time or by including the local experience in their work day.
For business travellers, free time means to take maximum advantage of the freedom of flexible work hours and utilize it in favour of their travel plans. It means that business travellers can improve their work experience along with the free time, and employers may reward their employees by making sure business trips are not only hard work and enable them to fulfil their wish to travel which once seemed beyond reach.
Growing rate of business trips, followed by growth of flexible work and distance work, create an environment in which leisure time may flourish. This possibility of combining business, travel and leisure is likely to be the benefit for both employees and employers, and it may even result in higher productivity and work contentment.
What do business travellers mostly wish from business trips and combining of business with leisure?
Bleisure means a number of favourable opportunities for travellers, such as the possibility of extension of business trips in order to explore the destination of their trip and possibility to visit attractions. In a Bookinga survey, respondents have said that they wish to visit places which bring back the sense of nostalgia – even 90% of them. This link between travel and emotion could be explained by the fact that people want their trips to take them to another place mentally, not only physically. This is a type of an escape possible by bleisure.
The number of people looking for vacation taking them out of their comfort zone is high – 78% of employed people look for this type of travel, and 74% want adventure travel.
Business trips are often focused on conferences and meetings inside one hotel – this wish for adventure could be a way to find a balance. A travel which combines business and leisure – bleisure – would enable business people to get to know the country of their visit better and fulfil their wish to escape.
According to professor Amele Piralić, Ph.D., head of the tourism study department at Džemal Bijedić University in Mostar, bleisure concept is definitely a strong segment which can be developed in our country. Productivity is in every segment measured by the level of contentment which business people may achieve in beauty of BiH, natural beauty and any other beauty that we possess.
“This segment of luxury tourism must be followed by the development of infrastructure and that is something that we need to deal with. The fact is that possibilities do exist; however, the fact is also that investment and development take place rather spontaneously than by a plan, which significantly decreases the utilization level of the potentials in tourism and slows down the development of the tourism industry in BiH”, underlines professor Piralić.
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