Workcation, a new trend

Over the past months many new terms emerged; Workcation, staycation and daycation in the hospitality industry driving new business.

Shehara Rizly

Alexander Suski, Commercial and Business Development Director – ISHRAQ Dubai LLC
We are very glad to be part of this new trend as Ishraq Hospitality through our portfolio of Holiday Inn Express hotels, which as a brand, believes in providing a Smart but Simple Travel experience to our guests. Budget travelers join our hotels because they want an easy and smart hotel experience. We have seen the lines between business and leisure starting to blur for years with leisure travel or bleisure travel. But the pandemic has really accelerated this trend. As part of its design and core brand values, we have spaces like Express Café or Express Essentials, that allow our guests to get everything they need to ensure they can work from everywhere and still feel at home. The same applies for Crowne Plaza as a brand. We are about to open Crowne Plaza Jumeirah, and one of our main key features is our lobby area called, The Plaza, a space designed for the modern traveler craving for an experience that blends work and restoration; a city retreat that boosts their productivity and inspires them in the process and socialize at the same time. We aim for The Plaza to be more of a social and business hub, rather than the traditional lobby.

Muhammad Mujtaba Haider, General Manager – Park Regis Business Bay Hotel, Dubai
Workcation is the new term for business travelers who work in the hotel instead of from their home making it as they used to before. Earlier, the term went as bleisure travel, however with the pandemic hitting the industry, terms such as Workcation, staycation and daycation have now become the newly emerging market trends. We have designed and launched promotions recently to obtain fair share from these segments and hopeful that it will be successful. These terms have opened new horizons adding more opportunities to the industry. Most of us have seen an increase especially over the weekends from both residents and locals indulging in spending their spare time in different hotels. As industry professional we go the extra mile to ensure that our guests feel safe in our property.

Ravi Santiago, Cluster General Manager – Wyndham Hotels Ajman
Workcation, a trend that is slowly gaining popularity, is another potential niche segment for hoteliers resulting from COVD-19 restrictions. Employees are looking for a healthy work-life balance. Switching from one’s personal to professional space can be struggle due to distractions from a work-from-home set-up, which can affect one’s creativity and productivity. Hotels can provide a space that is more conducive for working effectively, and some hotel chains have already started work-from-hotel packages to address this new demand. At this early stage, we still consider this as a niche segment as not all companies have the capacity to provide this kind of perks to their employees. Based on the learnings from last year, our team’s ability to adapt quickly to new trends will give us an advantage in tapping this new type of guests.