That leisure travel has well outpaced the return of group and business travel is, at this point, a universally acknowledged pandemic-era truth.

What is not yet known is whether the new normal will mean leisure remains the larger share of the travel pie going forward.

What is clear, however, is that many hotel brands and properties that have long prioritized the business traveler are prepping for that possibility and have pivoted in order to better position themselves for what could be a more leisure-focused future.

Take, for example, the Hyatt House flag, an upscale extended-stay concept that has catered to the business travel demographic and has more than 120 locations globally. But as the brand undergoes a repositioning and launches its latest campaign, it has broadened its scope, targeting the leisure audience. 

“Prepandemic, we focused on that core, extended-stay business traveler staying five-plus nights who was utilizing the hotel for a business purpose,” said Emily Wright, global brand leader at Hyatt. “But over the pandemic, we really kind of saw that rise of the leisure traveler, and we want to take that a step further.”

According to Wright, Hyatt House’s rebranding campaign, which began rolling out earlier this fall and will extend into 2023, is intended to better “embrace all guest occasions.” That includes family-oriented leisure travel, with the initiative showcasing multigenerational family celebrations in its ad content, along with couples and solo leisure travelers.

Concurrently, Hyatt House is in the process of developing a room prototype that Wright said will expand on its signature layout, which includes a bedroom, living area, kitchen and bathroom.

“Our current brand identity has been in play for about a decade, and it has served us very well over time,” said Wright. “But as the product evolves and as our consumer evolves, we wanted to give it a face-lift.”

Like Hyatt House, Omni Hotels & Resorts, which has more than 50 hotels and resorts across the U.S. and Canada, has seen leisure bounce back faster than business. 

“In terms of business travel, we’re only probably at about 60% to 65% of where we were in 2019, but leisure has really taken up the slack,” said Omni chairman Peter Strebel. 

Omni’s strategy to enhance existing properties with more leisure-oriented amenities predates the pandemic. In 2019 it updated the pool area at its Omni Charlotte Hotel in North Carolina with a zero-edge pool, cabanas, fire pits and an outdoor bar with a big-screen TV in 2019.

More recently, however the group has picked up the renovation pace, similarly revamping the pool area at its Omni Las Colinas Hotel in Irving, Texas, roughly a year ago by adding cabanas and an outdoor restaurant and bar and starting work on a refresh of the Omni Royal Orleans in New Orleans this year, among other projects.

At the New Orleans property, Omni plans to reimagine its rooftop pool, adding some French Riviera-inspired theming, cabanas and a bar. The hotel will also remove some meetings space and turn it into a lobby bar, the back of which will house a late-night jazz venue.

“We are seeing a big investment in more leisure activities,” Strebel said. “Since Covid, more people want to be outside, more people want resortlike amenities. And for the new generation of travelers, they want an experience as opposed to just a place to sleep.”

Strebel also expects that Omni’s lean into leisure will give travelers of all types a reason to extend their stay.

“The length of stay has become a little longer,” said Strebel. “It used to be around two nights, and now it’s 2.3 nights for the brand. We noticed that trend start a while ago, but we actually think with the right amenity package at our properties, people will start to stay even longer.”

Activities in urban markets

Meanwhile, few properties have been harder hit by the drop-off in business travel than those in urban, convention center-focused markets. The Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina in California, for example, has long relied on the San Diego Convention Center, located just next door, for its weekday bread and butter.

“In prepandemic times, which seems like light years ago, we were definitely a bit more business traveler-focused,” said Travis Jay Wilson, marketing director for the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. “And that business traveler was a guest that was consistently in meetings or with clients from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and primarily outside of the hotel.”

During the pandemic, Wilson and his team began to see an increase in the number of guests with much more free time to fill, including more families. As a result, the hotel began launching an array of more leisure-centric programs. It partnered with a company called Seaforth Boat Rentals to offer guests access to boats, personal watercraft and paddleboards; it added live music to its pool deck, and it rolled out a bike-rental program. 

As part of a recently completed, multimillion-dollar renovation effort, the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina has also unveiled a Topgolf Swing Suite at its Bayside Lounge & Bar. Offering a variety of interactive games, including golf, hockey and dodgeball, the amenity has proven especially popular as a family and group offering, according to Wilson.

Appealing to families

Bolstering leisure-oriented offerings is far from just a U.S. trend. In Switzerland, the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, which is part of the Michel Reybier Hospitality portfolio, is similarly looking to get leisure guests to extend their stays. 

Although leisure has traditionally already accounted for the bulk of the property’s business, the hotel recently responded to a Covid-era uptick in family travel by opening an expansive new kids club.

“In the leisure segment, [we saw that] the number of individual guests increased compared to groups,” said Raouf Finan, CEO of Michel Reybier Hospitality. “To meet the need of these families and get them to stay with us a little longer, we invested in the ‘kids’ house.’”

Known as the Bienehuus (beehive), the kids club spans two floors, and it offers a literature area, a music room, a multimedia space, a relaxation room and more. The club, open to children ages 3 to 12, is supervised and open Tuesdays through Saturdays.

In addition to incentivizing leisure guests to stay longer, resortlike amenities can also become a deciding factor when it comes to business travelers tacking on a few extra leisure travel days. Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina’s Wilson said that he’s seen a trend toward business travelers adding a day or two on the tail end of their trip, creating a bleisure opportunity. 

“I think one silver lining of the pandemic is that it just put everything in perspective in terms of how important work-life balance is,” Wilson said. “And we’re seeing guests now staying longer and tacking on an additional two or three leisure days and just extending their stay.

“That’s a great capture for us. But it’s also about how to bring in the right programming for that type of guest.”

By Christina Jelski