Every industry has its jargon, and of course the hotel industry is no different. But man, I had no idea so many people hated the word “bleisure.”
You know how every year, people get angry because the official Merriam-Webster committee adds words like “selfie” and “adorkable” to the dictionary? They complain the insert-new-word-here is an abomination of the true English language and so on?
For our industry, that polarizing word is “bleisure.”
All of us in the industry of course know that bleisure is a portmanteau of “business” and “leisure” and describes the age-old phenomenon of people mixing work trips with pleasure trips. It’s an established travel practice of course, but it has definitely jumped straight into the spotlight during the last two years.
We can all agree the concept is valid and here to stay, but clearly we need some consensus on the words used to describe it, because people are not happy with “bleisure.”
I asked around, in person and on LinkedIn, what friends outside the industry think of the word.
One guy described it as “a gastrointestinal issue” and another friend said “it’s definitely the sound you make before you throw up.”
Not great.
So today, dear readers, I offer you some alternatives, starting with the best option I’ve heard so far, which is “mullet trip.”
The fine folks at The Wall Street Journal coined this one, and in case the article is paywalled, here’s the lead, by writer Jacob Passy:
“The future of business travel could resemble a mullet — business in the front, party in the back.”
Paints a picture, doesn’t it?
I kind of like it. Mind you, I already use the mullet analogy in the hotel industry to describe how the style of dress at conferences and events has changed in recent years, again precipitated by the pandemic. Now at events we see women pairing dresses with comfy sneaks, and men topping jeans and Allbirds with blazers — I call that “the business mullet” and I love it, both the term and the style.
But “mullet” really can describe the combination of business and leisure trips too, so I could be convinced to apply it to both phenomena.
And if you aren’t comfortable associating travel intentions with that wild-yet-tamed hairstyle that is in fact making a real resurgence among Gen Z and isn’t just for Dog the Bounty Hunter, consider some other alternatives suggested by my LinkedIn contacts:
- Blended trip (safe but boring, in my opinion).
- Bizcation (Thank you Emily Goldfischer, founder and editor in chief at Hertelier.).
- “Pretending to work” (Very funny Eric Stoessel, VP of communications and content strategy for Medallia.).
I asked followers on LinkedIn which term they preferred and right now “bleisure” leads by a hair (haha) over “blended travel,” with “mullet trip” trailing. Weigh in on my poll, why don’t you, and we’ll settle this once and for all.
Have a different suggestion? Email me, or find me on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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