Bleisure: motivations and typologies. Issue 4 (4th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lichy, Jessica; McLeay, Fraser
• Is Part Of: Journal of travel & tourism marketing. Volume 35:Issue 4(2018)
• Page Start: 517
• Page End: 530
• Publication Date: 2018-05-04
• Subjects: Business travel -- leisure travel -- bleisure -- photo-elicitation -- motivations -- tourist typologies; Tourism -- Periodicals; 338.47910688
• DOI: 10.1080/10548408.2017.1364206
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1054-8408

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The theme of motivation in travel and tourism research has been largely dominated by a leisure focus and has consequently failed to reflect the changing landscape of business travel. This paper focuses on exploring the motivations of different types of "bleisure travelers": individuals who combine leisure with professional business obligations when abroad. We employ a multi-disciplinary mixed-methods approach, using photo-elicitation to identify and describe five types of bleisure. As existing theories of tourist motivations have mainly been developed in a leisure context, they fail to fully capture the nuanced scope and subtle context of business and leisure motives. We therefore draw upon experiential learning, boundary-less career theory, expectancy theory, and social capital theory in order to put forward contemporary insights on the nexus between business and leisure tourism.