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Study: Millennials Love Bleisure, But Don’t Tell the Boss

A new National Car Rental survey finds that while millennials like mixing business trips with leisure trips, in part to save money, they aren’t so excited to mention that detail to the boss—even if their supervisor does the same thing.

When millennials decide to mix business and leisure travel while on the road, they’re not exactly looking to let their boss in on their plan.

That’s according to National Car Rental’s 2019 State of Business Travel Survey, which found that “bleisure” is used as a way to save on the costs of taking a more traditional vacation—the reason given by 49 percent of millennials surveyed.

The report also showed that adding vacation time to a business trip is a major incentive: Half of millennials book vacations around business trips, and 76 percent say they’re significantly more inclined to take a business trip if an added vacation is an option.

In a news release, National Vice President of Marketing Frank Thurman stated that “workers in general, and millennials in particular, are increasingly blending business travel with leisure activities, with nearly a third citing their desire to explore specific destinations as the No. 1 reason to do so.”

There are, of course, some nuances to this situation. For one thing, the destination plays a factor in whether a business trip flips over to leisure in more than 30 percent of cases.

And the attitude of the boss might play a factor as well: While 78 percent of bleisure-takers say that their bosses take leisure time during trips, and 76 percent of leisure-taking supervisors say they encourage relaxation during the trip, nearly half of bleisure-takers feel reticent about talking to their bosses about the time off they plan to take.

Ultimately, while workers fit in R&R on the road, they also fit in lots of hours on the clock, although the number is declining. In last year’s report, business travelers worked 10.2 hours per day while traveling, compared with 9.3 for this year’s survey. But bleisure travelers got a little bit more of a break—working an hour less than their non-leisure counterparts.

And, although the pressure of all that work makes it tough to take personal time for more than half of respondents, nearly 60 percent still make the effort.

Do you mix business with leisure on the road? Tell us about it in the comments.

(swissmediavision/E+/Getty Images Plus)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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