NEWS: Study Finds 67% of Business Travelers Plan to Extend Trips for Leisure

Research highlights the growing convergence of business and leisure travel, creating new opportunities for hotels, resorts and destinations

The continued convergence of business and leisure travel is creating new opportunities for the global hospitality industry, as a growing share of business travelers look to extend work trips for leisure or bring family and companions along.

According to new research from Atlantis Paradise Island, 67% of business travelers surveyed said they are likely to extend a business trip or bring family members before or after attending a meeting or conference. The findings highlight the continued evolution of "bleisure" travel and its potential impact on hotel stays, resort demand, destination spending and meetings and events strategies.

The study surveyed more than 2,000 meeting attendees, planners and third-party meeting professionals across the United States and Canada. While the research focuses on North American meeting travelers, its findings reflect broader trends shaping hospitality markets worldwide: business trips are increasingly becoming opportunities for extended stays, personal travel and shared experiences.

Bleisure creates new opportunities for hospitality

Among respondents planning to extend their business travel, 65% said they would bring adult companions, while others indicated they would travel with teenagers or school-age children.

For hotels and resorts, the shift can translate into longer lengths of stay and additional demand beyond the traditional conference itinerary. It also creates opportunities to market accommodations, dining, wellness, entertainment and other resort experiences to travelers who might otherwise spend only a few nights at a destination.

The trend is particularly relevant to destinations and properties that can accommodate both business requirements and leisure demand, allowing meeting attendees and their companions to transition easily from conference schedules to holidays.

Meetings remain a significant source of hotel demand

The research also points to continued strength in the meetings and events segment. Three-quarters of respondents said they attended a meeting, conference, awards program or other business event during the past year, while more than 92% expect to travel for meetings at least twice in 2026. Nearly four in 10 anticipate taking four or more business trips.

The figures underscore the importance of meetings and events to hotels and destinations, particularly as group business generates demand across guest rooms, food and beverage, meeting space and ancillary services.

At the same time, travelers are becoming more selective about where those events take place.

Accessibility remains critical for meeting destinations

Ease of access and direct flights were identified by 65% of respondents as the most important factor when selecting a resort-based conference destination.

The finding highlights a fundamental consideration for hospitality operators: even the most attractive resort or destination can struggle to capture group demand when reaching it is difficult or expensive.

Destination appeal remains important as well. Seventy-four percent of respondents rated a destination's attractiveness as very or extremely important, while 53% said the availability of diverse meeting and event spaces influenced their choice.

Accommodations and resort amenities were cited by 41%.

For the global meetings industry, the combination suggests that destination competitiveness increasingly depends on more than meeting-room capacity. Accessibility, accommodation quality, leisure offerings and the overall destination experience can all influence an event's appeal.

"Today's meeting audiences are looking for destinations that make it easy to bring people together while offering the scale, flexibility and variety that modern programs require," said Steve Silverman, Senior Vice President of Group Sales at Atlantis Paradise Island.

Integrated resorts benefit from the business-leisure crossover

The research also highlights growing interest in integrated resort experiences. Seven in 10 respondents said they prefer hosting off-site meetings and events at all-in-one resorts, while 46% identified the ability to combine business with leisure as a key benefit.

That preference is significant for hospitality companies competing for meetings and incentives business. Properties capable of providing meeting facilities alongside accommodation, restaurants, entertainment and recreational experiences can potentially capture a larger share of spending associated with an event.

The findings also suggest that loyalty is influenced by operational consistency and service. Respondents ranked consistency, dedicated meetings support teams and group booking rewards as stronger drivers of loyalty than sustainability initiatives.

Airfare remains a challenge

Despite strong demand for meetings travel, cost pressures continue to affect destination selection.

More than 61% of respondents identified airfare as the biggest challenge when planning meetings in the Caribbean.

For destinations dependent on international or regional air connectivity, this puts additional emphasis on accessibility and airlift when competing for conferences, incentives and group business.

Business travel is becoming more integrated with everyday life

The study also illustrates how the traditional boundaries between work and travel continue to blur. Nearly one-third (32%) of respondents said they use flight time to catch up on work emails.

That behavior reflects a broader transformation in business travel, in which productivity, professional networking and leisure increasingly coexist within the same journey.

For hospitality providers, the implications extend beyond the traditional business traveler. A guest arriving for a three-day conference may now represent a longer stay, additional room nights for companions and greater spending across a hotel's leisure offerings.

Meetings demand remains resilient

Overall, 52% of respondents said attendance at meetings and conferences has increased compared with previous years, while another 35% said participation has remained steady.

The results point to continued momentum for the meetings and events sector and reinforce its importance to the hospitality industry.

For hotel groups, resort operators and destination marketers, the opportunity may increasingly lie in treating business travel not as a discrete corporate segment, but as part of a broader travel journey.

As more professionals extend work trips into leisure experiences, hospitality businesses that can seamlessly serve both sides of that journey — from productive meeting environments to compelling destination experiences — may be better positioned to capture the next phase of business travel growth.