Laura Olds, Wealth of Geeks
Four in five working Americans would be willing to work remotely from their hotel — and nearly a third admit they’ve worked remotely on vacation without telling their bosses. That’s according to a OnePoll survey commissioned by hospitality cloud system Mews of 2,000 employed Americans.
Nearly four in 10 explained it was simply because they like what they do for work. Others work on vacation to hit an important work deadline that overlapped with their vacation time or to save on their PTO.
For many others, traveling for work opens the door to other opportunities: nearly half have extended their work trips into vacations at their destination.
The “hush workcation” continues to develop as a new vacation trend.
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Prioritizing travel
64% of travelers say they plan to reduce their spending in other areas of their lives to prioritize leisure travel in 2024, according to a recent study from Hilton. One way to help with the cost of a vacation is to work throughout your trip.
While working from the comfort of one’s hotel room is the top preference, a quarter of respondents said they would prefer to work remotely from the hotel pool or spa, and nearly 25% chose a hotel bar or restaurant.
Three in four travelers and hotel workers agree Americans are prioritizing travel more this year than last. Seventy-nine percent are planning all their travels for the year “as soon as they possibly can” and estimate they’ll take a total of 11 trips in 2024.
Among those trips are three vacations and three family trips, alongside three work trips and two “bleisure” trips — openly combining business with leisure — for employed respondents. These trips often help people save money on their personal vacations while still fulfilling work duties.
Others look to travel for a once-in-a-lifetime event, but don’t want to take time off of work for these events. In 2024, 24% of travelers plan a getaway for these types of experiences, like concerts or sporting events.
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Hotels are the new office
With the flux of people traveling, that could mean more work for those who work in the hospitality industry. Hotel workers are prepared — they claim guests traveling for work or bleisure are the easiest to cater to. They anticipate these guests will probably tip more, extend their stay more frequently, and use hotel amenities more throughout the next year of travel.
Hotel workers anticipate guests to use technology more in 2024, with a fourth expecting them to check in more frequently via a hotel website, app or digital kiosk compared to previous years.
One out of three guests say their idea of a perfect hotel has keyless room entry and in-room smart home device. Nearly one-fourth prefer mobile room entry and digital ordering.
A third of respondents admit they’ve used AI for recommendations while booking travel. More than 40% of travelers prefer to check in via a hotel’s website, app, or digital kiosk, and nearly 80% say they’d be willing to stay at a hotel with a completely automated front desk or self-service kiosk.
“Technology enables our teams to gather robust guest information before they arrive at one of our locations, which empowers our customer service teams to create unique ‘excite and delight’ opportunities for guests, resulting in powerful moments and lifelong memories for our guests,” comments Ryan Krukar, VP sales & marketing at Gravity Haus. “Identifying and understanding a guest’s needs before they arrive at one of our locations and going above and beyond for guests is key in delivering authentic hospitality and provides additional value and comfort while simultaneously immersing a guest in the unique culture of
the destination they are visiting.”
The study also found that a large majority of hotel staff surveyed saw a new trend in locals coming to their hotel to use the amenities, often to get access to the hotel pool, restaurants, lobby, gym, and parking. Local amenities appear to go both ways — 79% of hotel workers said guests “always” or “often” ask for local recommendations.
“The most innovative hotels are moving away from a room-centric vision of hospitality into one which embraces experiences, communities and lifetime brand relationships,” explains Richard Valtr, founder of Mews. “They offer different spaces and amenities, from coworking to yoga classes and bike rental, paying close attention to what each guest needs.”
Nearly four in 10 explained it was simply because they like what they do for work. Others work on vacation to hit an important work deadline that overlapped with their vacation time or to save on their PTO.
For many others, traveling for work opens the door to other opportunities: nearly half have extended their work trips into vacations at their destination.
The “hush workcation” continues to develop as a new vacation trend.
—————
Prioritizing travel
64% of travelers say they plan to reduce their spending in other areas of their lives to prioritize leisure travel in 2024, according to a recent study from Hilton. One way to help with the cost of a vacation is to work throughout your trip.
While working from the comfort of one’s hotel room is the top preference, a quarter of respondents said they would prefer to work remotely from the hotel pool or spa, and nearly 25% chose a hotel bar or restaurant.
Three in four travelers and hotel workers agree Americans are prioritizing travel more this year than last. Seventy-nine percent are planning all their travels for the year “as soon as they possibly can” and estimate they’ll take a total of 11 trips in 2024.
Among those trips are three vacations and three family trips, alongside three work trips and two “bleisure” trips — openly combining business with leisure — for employed respondents. These trips often help people save money on their personal vacations while still fulfilling work duties.
Others look to travel for a once-in-a-lifetime event, but don’t want to take time off of work for these events. In 2024, 24% of travelers plan a getaway for these types of experiences, like concerts or sporting events.
—————
Hotels are the new office
With the flux of people traveling, that could mean more work for those who work in the hospitality industry. Hotel workers are prepared — they claim guests traveling for work or bleisure are the easiest to cater to. They anticipate these guests will probably tip more, extend their stay more frequently, and use hotel amenities more throughout the next year of travel.
Hotel workers anticipate guests to use technology more in 2024, with a fourth expecting them to check in more frequently via a hotel website, app or digital kiosk compared to previous years.
One out of three guests say their idea of a perfect hotel has keyless room entry and in-room smart home device. Nearly one-fourth prefer mobile room entry and digital ordering.
A third of respondents admit they’ve used AI for recommendations while booking travel. More than 40% of travelers prefer to check in via a hotel’s website, app, or digital kiosk, and nearly 80% say they’d be willing to stay at a hotel with a completely automated front desk or self-service kiosk.
“Technology enables our teams to gather robust guest information before they arrive at one of our locations, which empowers our customer service teams to create unique ‘excite and delight’ opportunities for guests, resulting in powerful moments and lifelong memories for our guests,” comments Ryan Krukar, VP sales & marketing at Gravity Haus. “Identifying and understanding a guest’s needs before they arrive at one of our locations and going above and beyond for guests is key in delivering authentic hospitality and provides additional value and comfort while simultaneously immersing a guest in the unique culture of
the destination they are visiting.”
The study also found that a large majority of hotel staff surveyed saw a new trend in locals coming to their hotel to use the amenities, often to get access to the hotel pool, restaurants, lobby, gym, and parking. Local amenities appear to go both ways — 79% of hotel workers said guests “always” or “often” ask for local recommendations.
“The most innovative hotels are moving away from a room-centric vision of hospitality into one which embraces experiences, communities and lifetime brand relationships,” explains Richard Valtr, founder of Mews. “They offer different spaces and amenities, from coworking to yoga classes and bike rental, paying close attention to what each guest needs.”
