Expedia: ‘Flexcations’ and ‘Bleisure’ Travel to Rise in 2023

Alternative forms of business travel such as “flexcations” and “bleisure” are on the rise in 2023, according to first and third-party data analyzed by Expedia Group Media Solutions.

A global travel advertising platform connecting marketers with hundreds of millions of travelers across the Expedia Group brands, the company analyzed data from its 2023 Traveler Value Index and the US Travel Association Q3 Business Travel Tracker to extract valuable takeaways regarding the future of business travel after the pandemic.

According to Expedia, bleisure travel, a form of travel that extends business trips for leisure, and flexcations, flexible vacations that combine remote work with leisure travel, are on the rise in 2023.

The company’s Bleisure Travel Report had predicted the trend in 2018, when it was revealed that 60 percent of business travelers extend their work trips for personal travel.

Expedia’s 2023 Traveler Value Index also showed that the likelihood of bleisure travel has jumped, with 76 percent of business travelers planning to take a bleisure trip in the next 12 months.

As businesses continue with flexible or remote work options for their employees, data from the Traveler Value Index shows that 28 percent of consumers plan to take advantage of flexible work options by taking a flexcation in the next 12 months.

For millennials and Gen Zs, flexcations are even more popular, with 43 percent of millennials and 38 percent of Gen Zs planning on a flexcation trip in the next year.

This new layer of demand presents a strong opportunity for destinations to extend their tourism season beyond the high-demand period, with multiple benefits to local economies and communities.

Furthermore, the demand for traditional business trips is also expected to increase in 2023, following 2022’s Q3 and Q4 trend.

Expedia Group’s first-party data showed increasing business travel in Q3 of 2022, as there was a 10 percent rise in demand from travelers with a business profile while in its 2023 Traveler Value Index, about a third (32 percent) of consumers stated that they are planning to take a business trip in the next 12 months.