Britain’s business travellers are jetting off to some of the world’s most desirable destinations, yet a significant proportion are too guilt-ridden to enjoy them, new research suggests.
A study commissioned by Good Business Travel, the human-led corporate travel management specialist, has found that more than four in ten UK business travellers (41 per cent) feel guilty about extending a work trip to include personal leisure time, the practice increasingly known in the industry as “bleisure“.
The findings point to a cultural malaise within corporate travel that is depriving employees of the wellbeing benefits long championed by HR professionals and travel managers alike. Almost half of those polled (49 per cent) worry their manager would judge them for taking personal time while away on business, while 46 per cent fear a frosty reception from colleagues on their return.
The research paints a picture of a workforce that cannot switch off, even when contractually entitled to. Six in ten business travellers (60 per cent) said they felt compelled to appear constantly available while on the road, and 58 per cent admitted they struggled to properly unwind during legitimate downtime.
Younger professionals are bearing the brunt. Among those aged 25 to 34, 56 per cent said they feared managerial judgement for stepping away from work commitments, and fully two-thirds (66 per cent) reported feeling pressure to remain permanently contactable, the highest of any age bracket surveyed.
The survey also exposes a striking gap between what employees want and what their employers provide. Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) said they would make better use of personal time abroad if their company actively encouraged it, and 78 per cent would welcome protected leisure time being written formally into their itineraries.
The opportunity, it seems, is already there. Good Business Travel’s data shows the typical business traveller spends just three and a half hours a day in meetings or conferences, leaving around four hours of daily downtime that is currently being surrendered to guilt rather than spent exploring.
In response, Good Business Travel has launched what it claims is a first-of-its-kind “Bleisure Clause”, a formal mechanism allowing employers to build protected leisure time into business trips at the point of booking. The scheme issues pre-approved “Bleisure Vouchers” that give staff explicit, employer-backed permission to close the laptop and step out into their host city.
Natasha Inglis, Implementation and Client Success Director at Good Business Travel, said the initiative was a direct response to the cultural problem her team had identified.
“While travel is instrumental for many businesses, it can take a real toll on employees. Being away from home and feeling constantly on the clock brings its own pressure,” she said. “When any attempt to take personal time is layered with guilt, something has clearly gone wrong. Our new Bleisure Clause tackles this at the point of booking, giving employers a simple way to better support their teams and make sure rest and exploration are a key part of any business trip.”
Alongside the vouchers, the company has published a “Bleisure Tourism Guide” covering ten of Europe’s most-visited business destinations. Aimed squarely at time-poor executives, the guide flags quick-stop cafés, iconic landmarks and lesser-known hidden gems suited to anything from a free hour between meetings to a full weekend layover.
“We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to actually use their leisure time, and vouchers, well,” Ms Inglis added. “Sometimes you may only have an hour between meetings, but that’s enough to find something brilliant, if you know where to look.”
For an industry still rebuilding post-pandemic travel programmes, the message to employers is blunt: the bleisure opportunity is real, the appetite is there, but without explicit permission from the top, workers will continue to leave the benefits of business travel firmly at the hotel reception desk.