Business or pleasure?’ has become slightly out of fashion. Bleisure, a post-pandemic trend in travel that combines business with leisure has become the new buzz in business travel.
Subhrajit Bhardan, General Manager, Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport, and Dheeraj Kukreja, Vice President – Hospitality, MG Muthu Group, give interesting insights on the subject…
- The New Normal has made way for Bleisure Travel, a concept where business and leisure meet. Is that the future of business travel? And why?
Subhrajit Bhardan: This pandemic has changed many things in our life. And not so surprisingly, the way we travel and work has also seen a sea change. Out of the many trends that we have witnessed, either new or the ones which re-emerged, ‘Bleisure’ is certainly one of them.
The idea of combining business with leisure is not exactly new but what is new is: Firstly, the demographics of the guests and secondly, the behaviour of these guests who adopt it. Back in the pre-pandemic era, a business trip would mean a few days of conferences or workshops in a different city, and extension of the stay in that destination over combined holidays or weekends.
The New Normal pushed more people to work from home, but depending on their role and the company, they have flexibility to work from different locations. So, a very millennial concept of a ‘Digital Nomad’ is now being adopted by many who may not be from that generation. ‘Bleisure’ travellers traditionally were motivated by the primary purpose of business but not anymore. Self-care, mindfulness and a larger life purpose might be some of the many drivers of their choices today.
Dheeraj Kukreja: Most of MGM Muthu Hotels are located at leisure locations. The hotels have observed a significant rise in occupancies during week days and non-peak holidays. A large number of guests travelling with families spend a few hours glued to their laptop and conduct work while the rest of family members indulge in activities of individual choices. This clearly shows that bleisure is making a big impact.
Bleisure is also positively impacting the business hotels. While the occupancies drop for a much longer period during the holidays and long weekends, there is also a surge in demand during week days helping the hotels achieve higher ARR.
This trend is expected to continue as guests prefer the same and leisure hotels are loving it.
- How bleisure travel-ready are hotels? How are they capitalizing on this trend and making it attractive for customers?
Subhrajit: Be it business or leisure, hoteliers have always tuned ourselves to our guests’ holistic needs and wants. These guests need some of the ‘bread-n-butter basics’ like a spot-on high-speed internet, customizable ergonomic workspaces and leisure facilities like spa, fitness centre and pool. What is probably more focussed on now, is choices of sustainable options and well-being activities. Curated culinary sessions and local earthy experiences make it to the top of the list. Another behaviour which is also making us think differently is the fact that more and more of our guests are travelling with their families, so availability of activities for the family within the hotel is a key selling point.
Dheeraj: MGM Muthu Hotels have been at the forefront of technology and provide all the essentials required for conducting business. We have state-of-the-art IT infrastructure at all our resorts. Having guests from the working age group staying in the resort during weekdays is so refreshing and welcoming. The concept of bleisure makes it happen.
We have doled out special rates and offers, which have been received very well by travelers, to capitalize the new trend. This is especially true for the conventionally non-busy days.
- What does the growth of bleisure travel mean for hotels?
Subhrajit: Pre-pandemic, bleisure was primarily a millennial trend; however, as flexible work arrangements and remote work have gained traction, bleisure has become more common and acceptable across age groups and among professionals from various industries. With in-bound travel still limited in some ways, this trend certainly means more revenue opportunities, improved guest experience and increased loyalty for hotels.
Dheeraj: In the past, hotels used to fight for a larger share of the pie. There was organic growth in business but the addition of rooms in respective destinations used to redistribute the business amongst all stake holders and hence offset benefits to existing hotels. The advent of bleisure has suddenly made the cake larger. The delay in addition of rooms due to COVID has now resulted in a sudden increase of occupancy as well as ARR. This was not possible without bleisure and its tremendous growth recently.
- What are the strategies in the pipeline to encourage this trend?
Subhrajit: One of the strategies implemented by IHG taps into the trend with a new and improved IHG One Reward program launched in the year 2022, which offers more personalized deals to our bleisure guests. IHG wants to make it easier and simpler for anyone to enjoy its loyalty benefits. And mostly importantly, knows that its customer profiles are expanding, and this reward program is designed to be more inclusive and accessible.
IHG also focusses on technology to create ‘Digital advantage’. This is vital in enabling a seamless experience across the guest journey, from driving direct bookings and creating integrated digital experiences for our guests while delivering a revenue-enhancing solution for the hotel. The brand piloted attribute pricing system in early 2019, enabling guests to select room attributes when booking as well as other hotel services.
Lastly at Holiday Inn Mumbai international airport, our concierge desk and GREs (Guest Relation Executives) play a vital role. Personalized guest interactions with the help technology interface enable a lot of customizations at ground level. This brings in the loyalty of guests to the hotel and makes their stay very comfortable.
Dheeraj: MGM Muthu Hotels intends to add inventories at all destinations where the trend has been witnessed. This would help us cater a larger number of guests and reduce turndowns. We are also looking at taking over hotels in new destinations, upgrading them and relaunching in the market.
We have recently acquired Sun Africa Hotels in Kenya and relaunched them. MGM Muthu Hotels is one of Europe’s leading hospitality chains with resorts in Portugal, Spain, Scotland, England, Cuba, France, Kenya and India. MGM currently operates in 23 destinations located in four continents with 50+ hotels and 10,000+ rooms. The group had a tremendous year on year growth.
