How Travel Companies are Tooling Strategies for Key Demographics

Got a case of the Mondays? Just take you work to the beach! Sounds pretty appealing, right?

It is often advised not to mix business with pleasure but the era of remote work has shined new light on the combo. The virtual workplace of Zoom calls and Slack messages has led to the idea of taking your work with you on trips. With the vaccine rolling out just in time for summer, people are more than ready to go on vacation. The weekly survey, Coronavirus Travel Sentiment Index, conducted by Destination Analysts reports that an “impressive 84% of those surveyed have at least tentative plans to travel in 2021.”

The spike in demand for leisure travel may support a steady rise for business needs. Recent market research published by Technavio forecasts the market will accelerate at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 3%. As remote work shifts work-life balance, hotels are making adjustments to adhere to the trend of merging one’s personal life with their professional life. Many chains offer business services like free Wifi, conference rooms, video conferencing, printing capabilities and additional facilities. These capabilities motivate travelers to integrate leisure time into their business trips which allows the business travel market to grow.

Airbnb was pushed to focus on build a loyalty program for regular customers as remote work allows for longer visits. CEO and co-founder, Brian Chesky saw the opportunity to capitalize on new consumer travel styles. “The lines between traveling and living are starting to blur together,” he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on ‘Mad Money.’ “We really are adaptive and resilient to any kind of travel behavior. That’s what we learned last year.”

“The lines between traveling and living are starting to blur together.” – Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky

TechRepublic’s R. Dallon Adams researched a case study evaluating travel trends in Dunwoody, Georgia. In 2019, the 61% of the city’s visitors were in town on business so to keep that sector going throughout the pandemic which identifies the concept of a “digital nomad.” Adams spoke with a local hotel representative who was creating new subscription programs to merge personal and professional travel. “One is a global passport which essentially offers business travelers the opportunity to utilize one of the hotel’s 21 different hotels around the world,” Adams says. “Another one they offered is a corporate subscription that allows organizations to access hotel rooms and meeting spaces at a fixed rate. You can kind of organize teams in the same location especially in a time when many organizations are now making long-term commitments to remote work.”

As many companies start to consider allowing remote work for the long-term future, business and leisure travel will continue to evolve.