Hospitality

Come for work. Stay for fun.

Bleisure—combining business and leisure travel—is an increasingly popular way to see the world. Experts predict the bleisure travel market will grow substantially in the years ahead, reaching $731.4 billion by 2032.

From a guest’s perspective, it’s great to have your company pay for your airfare and then tack on a little vacation at your own expense. From an employer’s perspective, people work harder: 59% of employees said traveling and exploring new places inspired them to be more productive with their work, according to a global survey by Booking.com. And from hospitality pros’ perspective, bleisure travelers are a desirable and profitable customer segment. Here’s how to attract them.

Hip London-based hostel brand Generator recently announced that it doesn’t want to be a hostel company anymore. “The moment we call ourselves ‘hostel,’ it limits us in certain markets,” Generator CEO Alastair Thomann said.

So is Generator a hotel company now? No. Instead, it will simply be called “Generator.” More than a hotel branding quirk, the change reflects the widespread convergence in the hospitality industry, Thomann said, in which hostels are becoming more like boutique hotels (aka poshtels) and boutique hotels are offering dorm-style accommodations. These experiments in community-driven, non-traditional hospitality also enable hotel companies to better compete with Airbnb and its cousins.

So, when is a hotel not a hotel? Let’s look at some ways hospitality companies are bending their brands.