Business travel in Asia-Pacific is no longer a fly-in, fly-out affair. According to Agoda’s newly released 2026 Travel Outlook Report, professionals across the region are increasingly stretching work trips into something more rewarding and far more personal.
The numbers tell the story plainly. A striking 76 per cent of surveyed business travellers across Asia-Pacific say they plan to combine business trips with leisure time in 2026. In several markets, that figure surges well beyond 85 per cent, signalling not a passing fad, but a fundamental shift in how corporate travel is approached.
Once the meetings end, the suit jackets come off.
The appetite for bleisure, the blending of business and leisure, is particularly strong in Southeast Asia. The Philippines leads the region, with an extraordinary 95 per cent of business travellers planning to extend their trips for downtime. Thailand follows closely at 92 per cent, while Vietnam records a robust 86 per cent. In these markets, the idea of flying home immediately after the final handshake is increasingly seen as a missed opportunity.
Even in countries known for traditionally conservative business travel cultures, the trend is gathering momentum. In Japan, 58 per cent of business travellers now intend to add personal time onto work itineraries, a notable cultural shift for a market long associated with tightly structured corporate travel. South Korea, meanwhile, shows even stronger adoption, with 76 per cent embracing the bleisure mindset.
Indonesia also stands out. While it leads the region in planned business travel activity for 2026 at 27 per cent, what happens after the boardroom clears is reshaping the travel landscape. Across the region, professionals are no longer content to see only airport lounges and conference rooms when the rest of the destination beckons just beyond the hotel doors.
This evolution in traveller behaviour reflects broader global momentum. Industry projections suggest the global bleisure travel market could reach as high as US$1.71 trillion by 2032, as flexible working arrangements, shifting corporate policies, and traveller expectations converge.
For Omri Morgenshtern, the trend is both deliberate and deeply human.
“Across Asia-Pacific, we’re seeing professionals plan to intentionally extend their work trips with personal days to enjoy local experiences and make the most of their time on the road,” Morgenshtern said. “At Agoda, we’re focused on making it easy for travellers to seamlessly plan both the business and leisure parts of their journey, all in one place and at great rates.”
That convenience matters. Whether it is securing a hotel within walking distance of a convention centre, booking a beachfront escape after meetings, or adding cultural experiences to a tightly packed schedule, travellers want simplicity and value.
Agoda’s platform currently offers access to more than six million holiday properties, over 130,000 flight routes, and more than 300,000 activities worldwide. Crucially, business travellers can combine flights, accommodation and experiences into a single booking, allowing them to plan the professional and personal sides of their journey in one seamless motion, either via agoda.com or the mobile app.
For the travel industry, the implications are significant. Hotels, airlines and destinations that once focused almost exclusively on weekday corporate demand are now recalibrating to capture extended stays, weekend add-ons and experience-driven spending.
For travellers, the message is simpler and long overdue. The business trip is no longer just about the meeting. In 2026, across the Asia-Pacific, it is increasingly about what comes after.
by Prae Lee – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 3 minutes.
About the Writer.
You can tell a great deal about a person by how they meet a Bangkok morning. Prae Lee doesn’t charge into it; she glides, unhurried, as if time itself has agreed to behave. There is a calm assurance about her, the sort earned by knowing both your roots and your destination.
A graduate of Chulalongkorn University, she earned her business degree with quiet pride, then further polished it in Singapore and Australia. Travel didn’t change her. It refined what was already there: curiosity, discipline, grace.
Back in Bangkok, she slipped modern life into the family business, mastering social media with an instinct for listening and selling with Thai gentleness.
Prae never seeks attention, yet everything she touches grows brighter.
Now with Global Travel Media, she writes with authenticity, drawing on culture, travel and a rare, steady confidence.
