Blended Travel Comes of Age

25.08.2023 - 14:21 / skift.com / Vasu Raja / Robert Isom / Matthew Parsons

The pandemic has led to a permanent change in how we live our lives between work and the personal. No longer just a trite category called “bleisure,” the idea of blended traveling is front and center for every major travel company now. How new strategies focused on the blended traveler will emerge more clearly in 2023, as the industry recognizes the whole traveler holistically.  

Travel CEOs talk openly now on earnings calls about the opportunities and revenue gains from this blended traveling. While coronavirus opened up remote working to the masses, office and company travel policies still remain fluid. 

Blended travelers are here to stay clearly, based on observations from leading execs at some of the biggest travel companies. Airlines and hotel groups have now recognized their importance, particularly as travel restrictions during 2022 were lifted and new trends emerged. 

Value of blended travel market in 2022

Number of employees requesting blended travel according to travel managers

Booking patterns are more “spread” out, for example, according to Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines. 

“We’re doing things differently. So as much as you’d like to say that you got to get all your work done Monday through Friday, people are spreading out. Not just 9:00 to 5:00, but going throughout the day, but then also the week as well,” he said at the recent Skift Aviation Forum. “It’s just you don’t need to have your holiday on a Saturday and Sunday. People are much more willing to do that at different times and also mix purposes of travel”

His comments came after the airline’s chief commercial officer Vasu Raja revealed in September that half its revenue now came from blended trips — a figure that has itself doubled — and it looks set to drive “real revenue growth.”

There’s also consensus the charge is being driven by small and medium sized businesses, who were first out of the doors compared to larger, more cautious, companies. And even today they’ll have fewer constraints, and are more likely to embrace work-from-anywhere policies.

Hotel groups are cashing in. Accor expanded its co-working brand Wojo at the height of the pandemic. Marriott launched an extended-stay product called Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, after the pandemic’s boom in remote and hybrid working styles generated demand for home-like amenities and experiences.

Lifestyle brands jumped in, taking the mix of business and leisure to new levels. Ennismore is so enamored with blended travelers it’s adding workspaces to its full portfolio. Developers are onboard as it increases the revenue mix. 

Newer brands like Selina went public off the renewed interest, with the hospitality brand looking at corporate packages as well as digital nomads. And