“The initiative aims to bring together research, practice, and networking for the future of travel. Behind Blend_it! are the German Business Travel Association (VDR) and the German Convention Bureau (GCB).”
Bleisure travel/blended travel and workations are “not a nice-to-have, but a necessary response to the changing world of work,” says Jens Schließmann, managing director of the German business travel association VDR. Matthias Schultze, managing director of the GCB German Convention Bureau, adds: “Germany is already excellently positioned as a business and MICE travel destination and offers ideal conditions for further expanding blended travel as a concept for the future.”
With this in mind, the two German institutions have joined forces and, following a kick-off in September, officially launched the Blend_it! initiative in December 2025 under a joint brand and with its own website. Together, they want to bundle supply and demand and contribute to further strengthening Germany’s attractiveness as a business and MICE travel destination.
First study to be conducted in 2026
The bleisure concept is to become part of business travel management, including scientific studies, practical exchanges, and the development of innovative offers and service formats. The platform sees itself as a link between knowledge, research, practice, and networking in Germany. The aim is to anchor blended travel/bleisure travel as a forward-looking concept in the German business travel ecosystem, as well as to provide guidance to companies, destinations, providers, and policymakers, and to jointly shape the latest forms of work.
In 2026, a scientific study will be launched that will specifically examine the needs and issues of business travelers in bleisure travel. The results will be presented at the first summit in Frankfurt am Main in July 2026. “We are taking an open-ended approach,” said the initiators at the launch a few days ago. However, they are convinced that blended travel offers advantages for everyone and no disadvantages.
