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2007-03-21
What is especially characteristic of contemporary art, social, political and religious life is mixing, merging and combining, whether it comes to genres, or societies, or ideologies. These processes are reflected in the sphere of tourism as well. Mixing business with leisure while on business trip is a good example (by the way, does the term “business trip”, then, fully reflect the goals of the travel?).
Business travel is traditionally associated with authorized attendance at meetings, conferences, exhibitions or authorized travel for any other purpose connected with official responsibilities.
Broader definitions of business travel refer to it as all work-related activities, as duty or as a reward, including incentive trips and corporate hospitality events.
Business travel is an integral segment of the travel industry and the economy of the country on the whole. In U.S., which is one of the largest business travel markets in the world, a Business Travellers Survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America in 2004 shows that 38.3 million Americans generated 210.5 million domestic business person trips in 2003. They spent $153.2 billion – nearly one-third of the domestic travel market.
In addition to this, the survey reveals that, in many cases, the purposes of business travel are not purely business-related. The survey shows that 62% of U.S. business travellers add a leisure component to at least one business trip per year. Two-thirds of them bring family members or friends with them. One of the reasons for doing so is associated with money. Cost-sensitive travellers can spend leisure travel dollars in their business destinations while saving on air fare.
Moreover, business meetings and conferences are often followed by active or relaxing corporate holidays or team building events and fun activities, where company staff can ‘wind down’, get to know each other better and learn the skills of cooperation.
Obviously, business travel has a significant impact on leisure travel industry and as such probably calls for a new term. The lines between business and leisure travel are blurring, and combined business/pleasure trips are emerging as a significant travel industry trend. No wonder why there appeared a jocular piece of dialogue about it. Question: Are you travelling for business or pleasure? Answer: Yes.
More articles about team building and incentive travel: |
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