Strategies for coping with business travel stressors: Enhancing business travel satisfaction through leisure activities

Abstract

Business travel often introduces stressors due to heavy workloads and the disruption of personal routines. As a stress-coping strategy, different types of leisure can be integrated into business travel to promote travelers' overall travel satisfaction. However, the traditional belief that more physically active leisure is always better may not hold true for business travelers; their constrained schedules and potential conflicts with employers may limit the feasibility of such activities. Using an exploratory sequential design, this study first employed semi-structured interviews to identify four preferred leisure types among business travelers. Subsequently, an online survey showed the effectiveness of cultural/natural attractions and social leisure activities in reducing travel stress while boosting satisfaction, aligning with business travelers' primary motives. This finding supports the arousal theory, emphasizing varying desires for arousal based on the specific circumstances of travelers. This study can also contribute to the enhancement of business travelers' travel competency.