Why You Should Be Considering 'Bleisure' When Planning an Event

What is bleisure?

Bleisure isn’t necessarily a new concept. But, it is one that is becoming increasingly popular for people across the working world. So, what is it?

The term ‘bleisure’ is a smooth portmanteau of the words ‘business’ and ‘leisure’ – which rather effectively describes what it is: a blend of business and leisure travel. Effectively, more and more people are adding activities and leisure time to any business travel they need to do for work. This could be adding a few days of time off at the beginning or end of the event to explore a city, using the weekend for the same, or even meeting their partner, friends, or family for part of the trip.

According to an IHG industry report, in 2023, 42% of participating travellers chose to extend their business travel to include leisure time. It’s arguable that the rise in popularity of bleisure travel has coincided with the prioritisation of a safe and sustainable work/life balance; where workers can choose to add some down time to switch off and enjoy a location outside of their professional life.

How can bleisure travel impact your event? 

If this is such a growing trend, it would be remiss for event organisers to ignore it, or not keep it in mind during the planning stages. After all, bleisure travel could have an impact on your event, including:

• Location: choosing the right location becomes even more important for professional conferences or events. Hosting your event in popular cities with lots to do could entice more people to attend because they want to explore their surroundings afterwards.
• Attendance: as we mentioned, considering bleisure could boost your attendance and engagement figures as people are interested in more than just attending your event and leaving. This is especially important for multi-day events.
• Event legacy: bleisure travel doesn’t just impact your event – but also the wider economy. Bringing in more visitors can support the area around your venue (economically, socially etc) and help you to have a more positive impact after the conclusion of the event.

Top tip: want to learn more about event legacy? Check out our guide to Event Legacy: What is it and How Can You Create it?

How to incorporate bleisure travel when planning an event

Since more and more people are taking the opportunity to add bleisure travel to their professional itinerary, we think it’s definitely something you should incorporate into your event planning. To help you out, we’ve included some of our top tips below to help make sure you’re offering the most to your attendees.

Choose your location wisely

Obviously, when it comes to bleisure, location is everything. If you choose a venue in the back of beyond, or with minimal things outside of the venue, people are unlikely to want to stay. We recommend looking for locations with:

• Excellent transport links: getting to your event needs to be easy. Whether by car, train, or flying (for international guests), choose somewhere that people can get to and from easily. For bleisure, you might want to choose a location with good links to the surrounding areas, so people can choose more activities to add to their itinerary.
• Varied activity options: you want to offer something for everyone, so choose a location with plenty of options (we’ll expand on this point below).
• Accommodation: attendees will need a place to stay if they’re planning on extending their trip, so look for locations that can meet a wide range of accommodation needs (find more below).

Top tip: don’t forget about the Venue itself as part of your bleisure planning. You need a venue that can work with you to make your event successful and bring people in. At ACC Liverpool for example, our interconnected campus can meet your every need – and, since it’s located on the Liverpool Docks, it’s perfect for guests to have a lunchtime micro-adventure on event day.

Highlight possible activities

Bleisure travellers are looking for opportunities to have fun. So, as well as choosing a location that can support bleisure travel, make sure you highlight potential activities. Whether as part of your wider marketing programme, social media posts, or with a welcome guide, make sure attendees know about the opportunities they will have if they choose to visit.

Look at us as an example. Nestled on the Liverpool Docks, we’re not shy about uplifting our city and telling anyone who will listen about all the amazing reasons to visit Liverpool, including:

• Eating and Drinking: Liverpool is home to an amazing selection of independent restaurants and bars to cater to any taste.
• Attractions: from the iconic Liverpool Wheel and the Mersey Ferry, to the Waterfront and Baltic Triangle, there’s plenty to occupy guests when they’re not enjoying your event.
• Culture and History: our city has a long, and often tumultuous history. From the Three Graces on the Waterfront, to the Maritime and Slavery Museum, to the World Museum and Central Library, there’s something for everyone to discover.
• Sustainable activities: Liverpool isn’t just about music and history – our city has a wealth of green spaces for guests to enjoy. From Formby Beach to Sefton Park and the Palm House, getting out in nice weather is easy.

Make it easy to stay

A key part of bleisure travel is for guests to have the option to extend their stay before or after an event to immerse themselves in the city or location you’ve chosen. So, as part of your event planning process, make sure there are suitable accommodation options to suit a wide range of budgets and travelling styles.

At ACC Liverpool for example, we’re surrounded by a superb selection of Hotels near our venue. From 5-star luxury stays to quirky boutiques and well-known hotel chains, there is sure to be an option for everyone to stay within the city.

Top tip: hosting an event and need everyone really close by? The Pullman Liverpool is not only directly on our campus, but is actually interconnected with the venue; making it the ideal home away from home for staff and attendees. Here you can find comfortable, stylish rooms, a fantastic on-site restaurant, and plenty of private meeting rooms for networking or smaller professional gatherings.

Make your event family friendly

One of the reasons attendees may decline your event is because of their family or home situation. They may not be able to find (or afford) a sitter for young children, there may be breastfeeding parents with new babies, don’t want to be away from partners or friends for extended periods, and a whole host of other reasons.

To encourage attendance and engagement with your event, as well as bleisure travel, you may want to consider making your event family friendly where possible. This could be by:

• Organising on-site childcare facilities.
• Choosing a breastfeeding-friendly venue.
• Including family events before or after the conference has ended.

Putting reasonable measures in to support working families can make a huge difference to potential visitors. By making your event or conference more accessible to families, you can encourage them to actually attend – and then further to enjoy some leisure time in your chosen location.

Top tip: we’re committed to making sure all of our visitors feel safe and supported in our venue. That’s why we are a Bambi Accredited Venue, and offer support in finding childcare options to suit your attendees. Learn more about Babycare and Breastfeeding support…

Plan for bleisure with ACC Liverpool

We have a lot to offer at ACC Liverpool. Not just within our excellent venue, but also as part of the rich and vibrant Liverpool community. With so much to see and do, and our existing Venue Services, it’s no surprise we’re a popular destination for business and leisure travel.

Want to learn more about how we can help you? Fill out our enquiry form to get assistance from our wonderful events management team…