JOHANNESBURG – Although it’s been simmering under the surface for the past few years, ‘soft travel’ is staging a quiet revolution and is now set to become one of the biggest travel trends for 2025.
Dubbed ‘soft travel’ in Hilton’s annual Trends Report, it’s driven by broader health and wellbeing trends prioritising mental health, self-care, reflection and authentic experiences.
In leisure travel, this means embracing simplicity and spontaneity, allowing yourself time to unwind and recharge. Rather than being driven by obligations or checklists, soft travel enables a trip to unfold, in the gentlest, slowest, most relaxed and enriching way possible.
But what does it mean for business travel? The idea of a ‘soft’ business trip may seem contradictory (and counterproductive) to business owners, but as Rategang Moroke, Operations Manager at Corporate Traveller South Africa points out, introducing elements of ‘soft travel’ into your 2025 business travel plans could actually enhance business outcomes – giving you an unexpected edge in the year ahead.
The ROI of slowing down
“Soft travel is positioned primarily as a wellness trend, and there’s no doubt that happy, well-rested travellers are more productive,” says Moroke. “But there’s more to it than that. For example, a business traveller with the time to immerse themselves in local culture might forge stronger client relationships than one rushing between meetings.”
For Moroke, the typical traits of soft travel can actually deliver real, strategic benefits for your business:
Reduced itinerary pressure: According to Moroke, rather than maximising every minute of a business trip by scheduling back-to-back meetings, building in deliberate downtime can lead to better decision-making and more successful negotiations.
“When we rush from meeting to meeting, we’re collecting information but not processing it,” says Moroke. “Those seemingly ’empty’ moments between engagements – an hour for coffee, a morning walk, even a quiet train journey – are often when our minds connect the dots and spark our best solutions. The most valuable insights often come during these breathing spaces, not in the boardroom.”
Immersion in local culture: Soft travel is all about embracing the experience, and giving executives the time to fully understand local markets and business customs can lead to stronger partnerships down the line.
Focus on wellness and self-care: Soft travel often incorporates wellness activities such as yoga, meditation and spa treatments. These activities are designed to reduce stress, improve physical health, and enhance mental clarity and emotional calm – all integral to performing at your best.
Eco-conscious and responsible practices: Committing to a healthier lifestyle goes hand-in-hand with soft travel, for example, embracing a slower pace, choosing local, seasonal produce, supporting local economies, and minimising one’s impact on the destination’s environment—all the better if this support’s your business’s values and ethos as it can help build a strong, responsible company culture!
Inclusivity and accessibility: At its core, soft travel provides an easy, stress-free travel experience. This is important for both neurodiverse staff and team members with disabilities as it involves creating travel experiences that are accessible and comfortable for everyone, regardless of their needs or abilities.
Measuring the success of ‘softer’ trips
Before dismissing the idea of soft business travel, Moroke says teams may need to take a closer look at how they measure the success of a trip, for example:
- Moving from “number of contacts made” to measuring the depth and longevity of relationships.
- Tracking repeat business and referrals that stem from those deeper business relationships.
- Measuring the quality of local market intelligence gathered during ‘slower’ trips.
- Assessing deal success rates when comparing itineraries with back-to-back appointments vs. those with intentionally paced meetings.
- Measuring the quality of decisions and insights that emerge during trips with more unstructured time.
- Assessing employee wellbeing (including stress levels and talent retention) when comparing traditional and soft travel approaches.
Tips for a ‘softer’ business trip
Importantly, Moroke says stressful, high-pressure trips just need a few ‘soft’ tweaks to deliver big results:
Choose your accommodation well: Chat with your travel manager or travel management company (TMC) about hotels with a soft touch. Spas, swimming pools and sleep menus all make a big difference – added bonus if the accommodation can offer excursions and tours to maximise downtime!
Create moments of calm in transit: Nothing adds to the stress of a trip like running through an airport to make your connection. Ensure you have enough ‘buffer’ time in your journey to catch your breath and avoid issues.
Build in deliberate downtime: Ask your TMC to negotiate early check-in or late check-out, add in a day or two of leisure time, or make sure you have a solid block of downtime between meetings – it can improve decision-making, information retention and problem-solving!
Make the entire booking process as seamless and easy as possible: Clunky booking platforms can get a trip off to a stressful start. Make sure your booking process is quick and easy, and that flexibility and spontaneity are possible (in other words, travel changes do not become laborious or costly).
Ensure travellers feel relaxed and in control: Ultimately, travellers want things to be as simple as possible. Apps and travel wallets can put all the necessary information at their fingertips – while after-hours travel support offers peace of mind in an emergency.
“Our research shows that a third of the decision makers expect the amount of travel to increase in the next year,” says Moroke. “It’s important to manage the demands of business travel, especially when it comes to protecting the health and mental wellbeing of your team. Happily, soft travel can bring surprising rewards.”
**ends**
For more information about Corporate Traveller, or to interview Corporate Traveller South Africa GM Bonnie Smith, call Lori Cohen on 079 641 4965 or email lori@bigambitions.co.za.
About Corporate Traveller
Corporate Traveller is a division of the Flight Centre Travel Group, dedicated to saving businesses across Southern Africa time and money. Corporate Traveller has the benefit of being part of the world’s third-largest travel retailer, leveraging its global negotiating strength. It has access to over 50 of the world’s leading airlines and deals with more than 100 000 hotels around the world to guarantee savings for clients. Corporate Traveller provides clear, consolidated reporting of all its clients’ travel activities, helping them to control travel spend and identify opportunities to save costs.
Issued by:
Big Ambitions
Lori Cohen
lori@bigambitions.co.za
