How remote work continues to transform travel and hospitality.

Remote work trends like flexcations are creating new opportunities for growth in the tourism industry.

Three years ago the pandemic closed offices across the United States and ushered in a new culture of remote work. The public health emergency is now over, but 35 percent of employees who can work remotely still do, compared to just 7 percent who did before the pandemic. 41 percent of these workers have a hybrid schedule–splitting their time between working remotely and in the office.

Remote work policies created the freedom for employees to work from home–or anywhere with Internet access. It also changed the way we travel, spurring trends like “bleisure,” an amalgamation of business and leisure travel that’s become an important growing segment.

Let’s delve into how remote workers are driving travel.

Combining work and play.

Today’s workers aren’t restricting travel to vacation days. Some describe themselves as digital nomads–traveling and working remotely for the long term. Digital nomadism is projected to become a $1 billion U.S. market this year and some companies are hopping on the trend with “live and work anywhere” policies for their employees.

“Flexcations” (where travelers opt to work from vacation destinations rather than taking off) are expected to be one of the biggest travel trends of 2023. In fact, 28 percent of travelers plan to take a flexcation within the next year.

Tourists are also planning longer trips, another possible indicator of working remotely. In 2018, 60 percent of those on work trips extended their stays for personal travel. 76 percent plan to do so this year.

Of the 405 million business trips Americans take annually, 60 percent turn into longer leisure trips. Bleisure is also popular globally, with similar percentages in Germany, India, China, and the United Kingdom. This rising popularity is predicted to grow the bleisure market to $594 billion this year.

Industry opportunities.

Remote work shifted the ways we do business in a post-pandemic world and created new opportunities for the travel and hospitality industries.

One area for growth is long-term stay accommodations like VRBO. With the average bleisure trip lasting more than six days, entrepreneurs in this space would be smart to keep an eye on remote workers and digital nomads interested in accommodations such as full kitchens, dedicated workspaces, and other comforts of home.

Hotels can also cater to remote workers through tailored services like flexible check-in hours and interior design like Zoom-friendly backgrounds.

The pandemic might have hindered the growth of hospitality and travel, but the rise in flexible work could be key to industry recovery. As businesses adjust to hybrid and remote work, it’s encouraging to see the tourism industry respond to meet the needs of these workers. I look forward to seeing the innovation and agility of entrepreneurs tapping into this growing segment.

Danilo Diazgranados is an independent investor in the global food and wine, financial services, real estate, and the hospitality sectors.