“Experts understand MICE to mean meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions, and are amazed at how much bleisure now follows the conference. There is actually nothing new behind this. What is new are the opportunities it offers.“ Sylvie Konzack
Follow the new theory of the speaking research colleague, with a view of the Leogang Mountains and the Steinerne Meer? The Congress Center Saalfelden in Tyrol has been attracting conference attendees with this view for years. An hour and a half from Salzburg and two and a half hours from Munich, participants can continue their discussions on the sunny roof terrace and perhaps even talk about possible hiking or skiing trips directly after the conference. This combined planning of location and surroundings is perfect for the Congress Center. Especially since “Das Saal” opened right next door over a year ago.
The newly built city and business hotel is located in the heart of the vacation area and offers smart check-in, a coworking lounge, a modern restaurant concept, a bar, and terraces on the ground floor and on the roof, including its own sauna. With its focus on business travel, Das Saal is the only hotel of its kind in the city of 17,000 inhabitants and beyond, reports the hotel manager. Most of its guests have business appointments in the area or are attending meetings at the Congress Center. They can also get together for small meetings of up to 25 participants in the coworking area. Otherwise, the surrounding area is ideal for hiking, climbing, biking, and skiing trips during or after the conference. As a result, the number of guests staying longer for bleisure is growing at Das Saal.
Alps Resorts is currently having a similar experience with its approximately 45 vacation resorts in the Austrian Alps. The offerings range from classic apartments and vacation homes on the ski slopes to chalets with their own wellness areas and glamping, i.e., luxury camping accommodations. While these resorts were originally intended purely for vacationers, they are now also hosting more and more business meetings and workations. Small groups of companies, e.g., from middle to top management, book individual chalets. Alps Resorts now has its own MICE manager who takes care of the right setting for work events, including suitable leisure recommendations.
And while we’re in the Alps, Switzerland also has a lot of experience in hosting conferences in modern locations with spectacular mountain views, followed by hiking trips. What American guests in particular already appreciate is now also proving to be an exciting concept for more and more guests from Europe. In our new print edition for Autumn 2025, we highlight various possibilities in different locations and settings across Switzerland in a special feature.
Business travel continues to evolve
Last year, the German National Tourist Board (DZT) and the German Convention Bureau (GCB) determined for the first time that by 2023, more than a third of all foreign business travelers will have taken a bleisure trip. Three out of four of these business travelers will have previously attended a conference, congress, meeting, or trade fair. The DZT then launched a Stay Longer initiative for Germany, which enabled international guests in Germany to reduce their ecological footprint per travel day by staying longer.
The business travel market continues to change. The volume of business trips, for example, remains significantly lower in Germany than before 2020. However, their duration continues to increase: According to VDR figures, 61% of smaller companies and 53% of larger companies reported that business trips lasted two to three days in 2024, with 46% of larger companies reporting trips lasting four days or more. VDR, The German Business Travel Association, is convinced that companies are planning their business trips more strategically, selectively, internationally, and effectively – and that bleisure and workations fit perfectly into this picture. “It is important that we focus on bleisure and workation in particular,” said VDR Vice President Inge Pirner at the VDR Annual Congress in May. “This is about making companies more attractive and sustainable – understood as a change of perspective. Even if there are still many legal guidelines to be established, we are working on it.”
Sylvie Konzack …
… is in regular contact with scientists and tourism service providers. She is pleased that more and more people are
working together to pursue the goal of more offers and better conditions.
Foto: © iStock.com/ssnjaytuturkhi, Das Saal/Widerhofer Group
