Business travellers in Asia are the most likely to forego adding leisure travel to their business trips because of how it may appear to their employers, a recent study by travel management company Egencia has found.

According to the company’s 2018 Bleisure Trends Study, which polled some 9,000 people across Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe, 32 per cent of business travellers in Asia have passed up “bleisure” (combining business and leisure) on their work trips because they were worried their boss would disapprove. This is compared to 20 per cent of business travellers in North America and just 15 per cent in Europe.

It’s worth noting that the findings don’t shed light on whether this concern is warranted. However, Egencia’s vice president of marketing, Wendy White, says that employees concerns present an opportunity for employers.

“The insight that many business travellers have skipped bleisure trips due to employer perception reveals an opportunity for differentiation in the race for top talent,” she said.

“With more companies today prioritising work-life balance, it may be time to start including bleisure in your travel programme to invest in employees and encourage them to make every trip count.”

About 55 per cent of business travellers around the world take fewer than six business trips per year on average, while 68 per cent take at least one bleisure trip per year, according to the study’s findings.

However, more business travellers in Asia are planning or considering a bleisure trip. In Asia, 87 per cent have a bleisure trip in mind, compared to 74 per cent in North America and 68 per cent in Europe.

So how should business travellers go about planning their bleisure trips in order to minimise potential negative perception?

According to the study, nearly one-quarter of respondents said that proximity to the weekend affected their decision to add leisure time to a work trip. And less than 2 per cent of respondents globally have billed back bleisure expenses to their companies.

Do you plan to add leisure travel to a business trip in the next six months? Let us know in our poll.