Updated on May 21, 2022 by Axel Hernborg

Axel Hernborg

A leisure trip is a journey taken outside of one’s normal environment for the primary purpose of recreation, relaxation, or hobby. The person taking the vacation is normally responsible for the excursion’s costs. Individuals that travel for pleasure and relaxation on their own time are referred to as leisure travelers. Employees must, of course, be given a specific number of vacation days throughout the year, and many utilize this time to travel. As business travel has become more prevalent, many business travelers are taking advantage of the chance to combine leisure and business travel. Bleisure travel is a term used to describe this type of travel.

The link between leisure travel and corporate travel

The development of bleisure travel has caused the lines between leisure and business travel to blur. Many employees who travel frequently consider bleisure travel to be an appealing component of their employment. Some businesses and organizations are eager to accommodate this, but some ground rules must be established according to company travel policy. For example

  • How long can an employee prolong a trip?
  • The approach to returning flights
  • How are vacations utilized for bleisure travel?
  • On business travel, how leisure time is handled
  • What costs are covered?

Of course, each of these categories is critical. It can get confusing, but a set of strict principles sets the tone and provides staff with an exciting opportunity to travel.

Tourism digitization is extremely important in the leisure travel business. Between 2013 and 2019, the combined revenues of Booking Holdings and the Expedia Group, the world’s two largest online travel agencies (OTAs), were observed to be more than doubled. While reviewing services on travel review websites like Trip Advisor became an essential element of the whole tourism experience. Digital innovation, along with enhanced hygienic controls, domestic destinations, and sustainability, will likely lead the way in the new era of leisure travel, as the COVID-19 pandemic turned the travel business upside down.

Global Leisure Travel spend Statistics

  1. In terms of global economic impact, travel and tourism are one of the most important industries in this context.
  2. Travel leisure expenditures accounted for 70% and 81% of national tourist expenditure in the United States and China, respectively, in 2019.
  3. The United States of America leads the globe in leisure travel and tourism spending.
  4. The United States of America spent $793 billion on leisure travel and tourism in 2019, accounting for 16.92 percent of global leisure travel and tourism spending.
  5. China, Germany, India, and Japan are among the top five countries, accounting for 49.21% of the total.
  6. In 2019, global leisure travel and tourism spending was predicted to be $4,687 billion (Figure 1).
  7. In 2020, the global tourist industry was turned upside down by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as countries throughout the world implemented travel bans and emergency measures to stem the virus’s spread.
  8. Because of the travel limitations, global leisure spending fell by 49.4% in 2020 compared to the previous year, to roughly 2.37 trillion dollars.
  9. In 2020, the worldwide leisure travel industry was worth USD 4,306.8 billion, and by 2027, it is expected to be worth USD 6,347.8 billion.
  10. During the forecast period, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.7 percent.

Leisure Travel Statistics Figure 1

Figure 1: Leisure Tourism spending worldwide

  1. A recent study reveals that the majority of Europeans travel outside of their country, preferring to travel throughout Europe because it is easier to arrange and more cost-effective.
  2. Germans are more likely to travel overseas, whereas the French are split between spending their vacations in the country or abroad.
  3. There is also a trend toward concentration, with France and Italy accounting for one-third of all bed spaces in the EU-28 (Figure 2).
  4. Pakistan spent $10.61 billion on leisure travel and tourism in 2019.
  5. Pakistan’s leisure travel and tourism spending climbed by 7.98 percent annually from 2.6 billion dollars in 2000 to 10.6 billion dollars in 2019.
  6. The tourist industry’s major sector is leisure travel which is planned by taking a vacation from work or everyday life is what leisure travel entails.
  7. Depending on the type of travel chosen, the tourist often hopes to relax, discover new cultures and destinations, broaden their mentality, and more throughout their holiday.
  8. Global leisure tourism spending is expected to reach $9.332 billion in 2029 (Figure 3).

Leisure Travel Statistics Figure 2

Figure 2: Leisure Tourism Spending Forecast

Leisure Travel Statistics in the USA

  1. According to reports for 2021, about 56% of Americans are supposed to do leisure travel.
  2. In 2019, approximately 56,000 hotels across the country had an average yearly occupancy of 66 percent, selling 1.3 billion rooms.
  3. In the United States, hotel occupancy is predicted to reach 52.5 percent in 2021, up 8.5 points from 2020.
  4. This would reduce room income in 2021 to just 85% of what it was in 2019.
  5. Consumers are excited about the widespread distribution of a vaccine and, with it, the chance to travel again in 2021.
  6. Consumers are positive about travel in 2021, according to the research, with 56 percent of Americans stating they will travel for leisure or vacation in 2021.
  7. The epidemic has wreaked havoc on the hotel industry’s workforce, which has lost roughly 4 million jobs since the beginning of 2019.
  8. Even though 200,000 jobs are expected to be filled this year, the lodging sector has an unemployment rate of 18.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  9. Furthermore, half of all hotel rooms in the United States are expected to be vacant by 2021.
  10. Hotel employment isn’t expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2023.
  11. While 34% of Americans are already comfortable staying in a hotel, 48% feel their comfort is in some way linked to vaccination.
  12. As Americans say, they’re more likely to travel for a family occasion like a wedding or reunion at a rate of 51% in the coming year.
  13. However, the majority of people are likely to travel over the summer holidays, which are topped by the Fourth of July (33%) and Labor Day (28%) respectively.
  14. Business travel, which accounts for the majority of hotel revenue, is virtually non-existent. However, it is predicted to make a modest comeback in the second half of 2021.

Leisure Travel Statistics in the UK

  1. In the United Kingdom, the travel and tourism business makes a considerable contribution to the economy (UK).
  2. Travel and tourism contributed an estimated 237 billion British pounds to the UK’s GDP in 2019, yet this sum is expected to drop by more than half in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (for more UK Tourism statistics, check out our guide here).
  3. The contribution of travel and tourism to the UK job market has also decreased as a result of the health issue, with these industries accounting for over four million jobs in 2019 and just under four million in 2020.
  4. Leisure expenditure dominated travel and tourist spending in the UK during and before the pandemic, and it climbed in 2020 as corporate spending fell.
  5. In 2018, 37.9 million tourists visited the United Kingdom, and 15.1 million People came for a vacation.
  6. About 11.8 million people (31.4%) traveled to the UK to visit friends or family. 8.4 million people came for business.
  7. Every year, over 30 million visitors from all over the world visit London.
  8. London’s tourist population has grown from 11 million in 2002 to more than 19 million in 2016.
  9. Tourists spent over 111 million nights and about £11.9 billion, according to the National Office for Statistics.
  10. The majority of tourists 2,322 (in every 1000 visits) came from the United States to visit London (Figure 4).
  11. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of outbound visitors from the United Kingdom (UK) decreased considerably in 2020 compared to the previous year.
  12. The majority of outbound tourist visits from the United Kingdom were for vacation purposes.
  13. Vacations overseas, on the other hand, fell from about 59 million in 2019 to around 14 million in 2020.
  14. Outbound visits to friends and relatives fell to roughly seven million in 2020, down from over 23 million the year before.
  15. In 2020, the number of trips from the United Kingdom abroad is expected to reach around 24 million.

Leisure Travel Statistics Figure 3

Figure 3: London Tourism Statistics (Read more about London tourism statistics)

Leisure Tourism vs. Business tours

  1. Vacations, visits to friends and relatives, and other journeys undertaken for recreational purposes are all examples of leisure tourism.
  2. Business travel, on the other hand, comprises any journeys conducted for business purposes, such as attending meetings, congresses, and seminars.
  3. Due to the health problem, global corporate travel spending fell by nearly 61 percent to 504 billion dollars in 2020.

    4. Covid-19 Impact on Leisure Tourism

    1. Following a peak of about 1.47 billion in 2019, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide, including leisure and business tourists, fell by nearly 73 percent as a result of the epidemic, returning to 1990 levels.
    2. International arrivals in Europe, the world’s top region in terms of inbound visitor visits, was 235 million in 2018, down from 746 million in 2019.
    3. This metric is available for 81.19 percent of all nations in 2028.
    4. An average of 81.19 percent of all nations have data for this metric from 1995 to 2028.

    References

    https://www.stat.fi/meta/kas/vapajmatka_en.html#:~:text=A%20leisure%20trip%20is%20a,the%20person%20making%20the%20trip.

    https://www.travelperk.com/corporate-travel-glossary/leisure-travel/

    https://www.statista.com/markets/420/topic/493/leisure-travel/

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/1093335/leisure-travel-spending-worldwide/

    https://www.travelagentcentral.com/hotels/stats-56-expect-to-travel-for-leisure-2021

    https://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Tourism/Leisure-Travel-and-Tourism-Spending/Leisure-travel-and-tourism-spending

    https://www.ustravel.org/research/monthly-travel-data-report

    https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/hdf5b00f2

    https://pro.regiondo.com/travel-statistics/

    https://knoema.com/atlas/Pakistan/topics/Tourism/Leisure-Travel-and-Tourism-Spending/Leisure-travel-and-tourism-spending#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20leisure%20travel%20and,by%20our%20digital%20data%20assistant.

    https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-leisure-travel-market-report-2021-2027-changing-spending-patterns-of-consumers–increase-in-diversity-301370375.html

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/1093371/leisure-travel-spending-worldwide-outlook/

    https://www.condorferries.co.uk/uk-tourism-statistics#:~:text=37.9%20million%20tourists%20visited%20the%20UK%20in%202018.,million%20visited%20for%20business%20trips.