🥂 It's time for your 'Damp' January

January 6, 2023

Happy New Year, everyone!

It doesn't look like it's off to a great start. Jeremy Renner met with a horrific snow accident, and Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin collapsed during an NFL game, shocking the world. If the news is already prompting you to give up on your Dry January pledge, we've got just the thing for you...

• If Dry January is too much, you can try out Damp January

• London has become the divorce capital of the world for the mega-rich

• A new weight-loss treatment could become the bestselling drug of all time

#Bleisure

🛫 #Bleisure, combining business and leisure, could become standard amid work-from-anywhere arrangements.

🤑 Business air travel is down 66% compared to pre-pandemic levels, but blended work-fun trips have made up for some lost traffic — they're often last-minute and have high fares.

🏨 People taking 'bleisure' trips are causing an industry-wide shift spanning airlines and hospitality.

Taking your workweeks to beaches or mountains

🏖️ More business travelers are demanding companies prioritize their well-being through 'bleisure' — two-thirds of UK businesses bumped their travel spending by over 50%.

🏔️ Companies are pouring cash allotted for office rent into destination corporate conferences.

💸 Airlines also want to focus more on leisure-oriented destinations, pushing business travelers into the higher airfare price category in 2023.

It's creating a new class of travelers

 ⚡ 'Bleisure' might not be the savior of the lost airline business, but it now accounts for 50% of American Airlines' revenue.

🛬 American, Delta, and United — all have plans to market to 'bleisure' travelers by thinking differently about mid-week travel, premium seats, and checked-bag discounts.

Transforming the hospitality industry

✈️ Bleisure is poised to eclipse traditional business travel — it is spurring hotels to add flexible workspaces and meeting rooms for convenience.

🏝️ Since bleisure travelers stay at the same place for the work and leisure parts of trips, hotels may also offer immersive experiences like full-day tours and excursions.

Are businesses cool with it?

👀 Companies are still figuring 'bleisure' out and are unsure about the liabilities — how time is divided or if someone gets injured during a trip.

💼 Reimbursement concerns around are also preventing wider formal adoption of 'bleisure' trips, but blended trips have become a selling point for recruiting or retaining employees.

If you have any feedback, drop it here. Have a great weekend!