Even though the main purpose of a business trip is the meeting, the presentation or the conference you are attending, it is recommended to perform other activities in your destination. During business trips, there is usually no time for sightseeing or venturing out your hotel room or convention centre. However, since you are already in a foreign city boasting a number of surprising new activities, why waste the opportunity to explore a new destination?
Take an hour or two to take part in a local activity or sporting event, go to the gym or run across the city in a race organized by your hotel. Physical activity is paramount to keep stress levels down, to keep your head clear, keep yourself active and sharp for your business activities, and good for your health in general.
If you are constrained by time, make it a plan to always visit one local shop or have the local coffee in every place you travel to - this is a good trick to make your travels more distinctive and pleasurable.
For instance, if you are visiting New York City, one of the biggest cities for business, you could spend your lunch on a helicopter tour, getting a chance to admire the city's most iconic sites; take advantage of a business dinner to explore NYC's gastronomic offer. If you have some downtime, you can spend a relaxing two hours on a twilight sail of the Hudson. You can always push your trip back home a few hours to squeeze a few other activities.
In the latter years, business travelers have increasingly tried to incorporate leisure activities into their business trips. This practice has become more popular in the new century - more than two thirds of frequent business travelers reported that they combined leisure activities with business trips.
Part of this trend includes circumstances in which spouses or children tag along on business trips for a few added-in days of family fun. However, another part involves solitary activities - either leisure or sports - specially among younger business travelers.
Airlines, intranet sites and travel companies have become aware of this trend and have seen the opportunity of marketing more diversions and offer travel packages. These have become known as custom trips - leisure trips added onto a business trip. These are more common when the business trips take longer times, for instance weeks, so these travel companies promote a weekend away in a location near the destination. So it is trip within a trip. This is an original way to spice up the trip and make it feel less lonely as business travelers are on their own in a foreign place.
Studies show that business travelers' favorite leisure activity is going out for a meal. After this, they have answer that the second preferred activity is taking a tour/participating in a local activity. Next, they mentioned visiting a friend or woking. Other activities include shopping, catching up on reading, exercise, browsing the Internet, watching TV, going to bars, using the hotel spa facilities and services, and going to a local networking event.