Survey Of Association Conference Planners Indicates Changing Attitudes To Bleisure

Published January 08, 2024

Bleisure (‘business + leisure’) visitors are people who add extra days to their conference or business trip for leisure activities such as sightseeing, sports, entertainment, or simply relaxation, turning their business visit into a holiday experience. Since the relaxation of travel restrictions linked to the Covid pandemic, Bleisure has been growing fast in Europe and beyond, as a growing number of people choose to prolong their business trips for leisure purposes.

Because of the number of participants they attract, association conferences have the potential to add significantly to the Bleisure trend, boosting tourism in the destinations where these events are held. But is that potential being realised?

This new report, Bleisure in Association Conferences, reveals the results of the first survey of association conference planners worldwide that focuses specifically on their members’ attitudes towards spending extra days for leisure activities in conference destinations. The survey also explores current trends in the provision of pre- and post-conference tours as well as spouse programmes.

One-third of respondents reported that the leisure attractions of cities are a very important factor for them, when they are choosing destinations for their events. Less than 1 in 5 of the conference planners surveyed said that leisure attractions were completely unimportant to them.

When asked to estimate the average percentage of their conference participants who usually stay longer in the destination for leisure purposes, over 1 in 5 of the respondents admitted that they did not know because this was something that they did not measure. But over one-third of respondents reported that 30% or more of their participants spend extra days in the conference destinations for leisure activities, before or after the actual event.

In response to the question of whether Bleisure was a growing phenomenon for their conference participants, the two most common responses were that it was either ‘growing’ (approximately 30% of the respondents) or ‘staying the same’ (approximately 30% of the respondents). However, almost 20% reported that Bleisure as an activity was declining among their conference participants, mainly due to financial challenges, increasing work pressure or family obligations.

The findings revealed in Bleisure in Association Conferences are significant for all destination marketing organisations and also for conference planners regarding the current attitudes of association members towards adding Bleisure elements to the conferences they attend. The report may be downloaded free from here.

NOTES

MICE Knowledge is a London-based consultancy specialising in research, education and training for the international meetings industry. Dr Rob Davidson is the Managing Director and the author of seven books on the MICE industry.

Contact rob@miceknowledge.com
Visit www.miceknowledge.com

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