Bleisure/blended travel is an important concept made for the future of work and travel. The new Blend_it! platform aims to promote this topic professionally. We spoke with the initiators, Jens Schließmann, managing director of the business travel association VDR, and Matthias Schultze, managing director of the GCB German Convention Bureau e.V.
Jens, Matthias, how did your collaboration come about, and why exactly concerning this topic?
Matthias: The VDR connects us to the entire ecosystem, from the demand side represented by travel managers to the supply side. Together, we have determined that – with the exception of Bleisure Traveller as a journalistic medium – the topic of blended or bleisure travel has no home. That is why this new initiative was created and why we are collaborating with your magazine.
Jens: Business travelers are our common denominator and we consider the combination of business and private travel to be an important trend. However, bleisure sounds too much like leisure, which gives many companies the impression that it’s about employees taking vacations instead of actually working. But the starting point is traveling for business. To emphasize this, we chose the term blended travel.
What are the goals, including thinking internationally?
Jens: Whether it’s HR departments and travel management, business travelers themselves, providers in the fields of mobility, hospitality, destinations, science, or even politics – the platform should be a place where everyone involved in the topic can come together and exchange ideas. For travel managers, for example, the topic of bleisure and workation means additional work, as they have to concipate the right conditions while employees develop their own wishes and expectations on the subject. At the first summit on 14–15 July 2026 in Frankfurt, we want to present our initial study and focus primarily on the motives and needs of the various target groups.
Matthias: Regarding international business travel, we want to analyze the most important source markets, among other things. We want to connect initiatives, identify gaps, and bring additional transparency to a dynamically growing field..
Matthias, you emphasize that Germany, for example, as a business and MICE destination, i.e., for meetings and conferences, already offers ideal conditions for more bleisure. In what way?
Matthias: According to the IPK World Travel Monitor, one in ten business trips worldwide is to Germany – the highest number globally, followed by the US and China. Of these, a significant 34 percent would undertake a bleisure trip, putting Germany in third place behind the US and Mexico. We see many reasons for this: in addition to the high volume of business travel, these include Germany’s broad travel and cultural portfolio and the ability to get from A to B fairly quickly. At the same time, we see differences in the affinity for bleisure among different nations, with Americans leading the way at 60 percent and the Swiss at 55 percent – something we can all respond to in a targeted manner.
Jens, nevertheless, the VDR Business Travel Analysis 2025 has shown that 55 percent of companies are already looking into blended travel concepts, but some also have a mixed attitude, which is evident in contradictory travel policies. To what extent?
Jens: Yes, as I previously mentioned, there are also critics of the trend who have different perceptions — often because legal and organizational issues have not yet been conclusively clarified. And service providers such as business travel agencies reflect us back that their customers don’t have a demand for this kind of topic. We believe that, so far too many questions have remained unanswered, especially legal ones. If we can provide answers here, the topic can be made more measurable and standardized..
Thank you very much for the exchange!
Photos: GCB, VDR
