Bleisure travel is on the rise and it's not slowing down
gettyIn 2025, the global bleisure travel market was valued at $762 billion and is projected to grow from $849.87 billion in 2026 to $2.2 trillion by 2034, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 12.69%.
Founders and executive teams are increasingly reassessing where meaningful work can take place. Hybrid travel has become an effective way to step back from daily routines, gain fresh perspectives on challenges, and make decisions with fewer distractions.
The City Ranked Best For Bleisure
In March 2026, Booking.com for Business named New Orleans the best U.S. city for bleisure travel. Hotels operating in the market have been watching that shift build for years.
Ralph Mahana, General Manager of The Windsor Court , sees it directly in how his guests move through a stay. "New Orleans has always been a city that invites you to stay a little longer," he says, “and today's traveler is finally incorporating that into their itinerary. We see guests move seamlessly from focused business days to evenings filled with culture, cuisine, and music — without feeling like they have to choose between the two.”
The Windsor Court, located in the Central Business District, offers professionals a base that accommodates both work and leisure. The Club Level maintains the productivity of the workday while providing comfort. The spacious guest rooms, impressive art collection, and rooftop pool are not just additions to a typical conference hotel; they are what truly makes an extended stay feel like the correct choice.
The Business Hub Where The Bleisure Transition Actually Works
San Diego’s appeal to bleisure travelers is bolstered by a robust business travel market. In 2025, 13% of visitors to the city came for business, bringing the total to 32.5 million visitors and $14.8 billion in visitor spending.
The city’s robust mix of conventions and group demand positions it as more than just a leisure destination, helping explain its continued prominence as a leading travel market in the U.S.
The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego is located on the Embarcadero waterfront and offers stunning views of San Diego Bay. Notably, its leisure amenities were not part of its original design. The waterfront features running and cycling paths that begin right at the hotel’s entrance. Additionally, attractions such as the Gaslamp Quarter, Balboa Park, Little Italy, and the ferry to Coronado Island are all within a short walk or bike ride.
Being only about three miles from the airport, San Diego is ideally suited for extending business trips, allowing visitors to enjoy a few extra days in this vibrant city.
The Secondary Market That’s Built For Bleisure
Fort Lauderdale has spent years in Miami’s shadow, which has been useful for the professionals who figured that out early. The city has real business infrastructure — a growing corporate corridor, Port Everglades as one of the hemisphere’s busiest cargo and cruise hubs, and a Brightline connection that puts Miami within 30 minutes when the itinerary requires it. What it lacks is Miami’s pricing or the sense that the destination is consuming the traveler rather than hosting them.
The Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale is located on a quieter section of North Fort Lauderdale Beach. It is conveniently near downtown and access points to Miami, yet far enough away to accommodate bleisure travel. Meeting and event spaces are centralized on the second floor, separate from the leisure areas below. This separation allows executives to work without the visual and acoustic distractions typical in resort settings. All guest rooms and suites feature a dedicated desk and ample space, enabling guests to work comfortably throughout the day.
When the workday ends, the property shifts registers without requiring the traveler to go anywhere. Complimentary morning ocean-view yoga, sound bowl meditation, and access to Fort Lauderdale’s only Forbes Five-Star Spa sit alongside two distinct dining options — Michelin-recognized Evelyn’s for coastal Mediterranean, and MAASS for the kind of refined setting that works for a leadership dinner or a significant conversation. Millennials account for up to 45% of bleisure travelers, according to Precedence Research, and the combination of serious work infrastructure and access to leisure is precisely what that segment is looking for.
Where Bleisure Travel Is Headed
Navan data found that 73% of business travelers say bleisure opportunities benefit them as employees, and 78% say leisure time adds measurable value to their job assignments.
The key factor that decides whether the extra days of a trip are worthwhile is the property itself. A hotel that can accommodate both types of experiences — being conference-ready one day and genuinely restorative the next — transforms the extension from a mere afterthought into a valuable aspect of the entire trip.
As distributed work continues to evolve, companies are likely to design more of their retreats and planning sessions around places that help people think clearly and talk without rushing. For many leaders, this means bleisure travel is becoming less of a luxury and more of a practical way to advance their work and teams.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
