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introduction | ASTA
London is a popular year-round bleisure destination
Hershberger agrees. “Most companies we
work with are small- to medium-sized accounts and do not have an explicit policy for us to enforce about extending business trips. In most cases, the employee will give us a separate credit card to book their added hotel nights or airfare for a spouse or friend. ... Few people would risk their job by trying to cheat their company out of one or two hotel nights.” Some companies actually encourage bleisure
travel because they view it as a great employee benefit, Casto notes. “For example, if they are having a meeting in San Juan, they might extend their room block or offer $500 credit for family or a friend to join you.” “In most cases, though, if you extend a trip
other than for work, you need to advise your company and they are not liable for additional costs or anything that happens while you are not there for work,” Casto says, noting that he has even seen some companies require employees to sign an affidavit saying the trip extension is for personal purposes and affirming that the company is not liable for their vacation travel. A related concern for some is employees
using a business trip as a jumping-off point to work remotely. “This is a unique difference post-COVID,” Casto observes. “For example, they attend a
three-day meeting in Madrid and then want to stay on working from Madrid and exploring Spain. While not common, there can be tax, duty of care, and even copyright implications for a company when employees work outside of their normal locations.” “It’s our job to engage in conversation and
understand our client’s priorities, policies and risk tolerance,” Casto says. “It’s not our job as a TMC to know the law or to set up those parameters. Our clients need to set the policy guidelines and we will implement them.” Do we sense opportunity here? Alert the
leisure division; we need a villa rental in Puerto Rico with super wi-fi.
A Rose By Any Other Name “Bleisure is a terrible word for a beautiful concept,” says Casto. “Whoever had a great trip that starts with ‘Bluh’? ‘How was Bermuda? It was bluh.’ ‘Did you enjoy Paris? Bluh.’” ‘Bleisure’ somehow makes a naturally sexy
product sound like an illness. In place of the mangled road kill of a word
‘bleisure’, let’s use a new moniker. Any of the following would be fine by me: ‘corporate R&R’, ‘downtime’, ‘extended trip’ or possibly the old stand-by of ‘time-off’. Let’s just agree that — whatever we choose to name this hallowed tradition — it not evoke the sounds of the mating cries of despondent toads.
WHAT MAKES A BLEISURE-FRIENDLY HOTEL
• A suitable workspace with strong wi-fi, easy- to-access outlets, ergonomic chair and desk
• Childcare and kid-friendly amenities such as a pool, babysitting, playground
• Concierge service for local recommendations and help in making arrangements
• Competitive leisure rates for conference or individual corporate guests who want to extend, and a booking engine to support that
Worldwide Destination Guide 2024/25 | ASTA | 17
• Business and leisure amenities highlighted on website
• Leisure program packages for extended- stay guests
*Source:
hoteltechreport.com
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