Turning business travel into a vacation

Would work travel seem a little easier if you could turn it into a vacation? Two professors say they have proof that would help business travel.

Jace Ramsey and Melanie Lawrence know a thing or two about travel. Lawrence is from Germany, but they live and work in Southwest Florida, so they put in the miles.

“Our son has been on 10 international trips, and he’s barely 3,” said Melanie Lawrence.

However, the business school professors, one at Florida Gulf Coast University and the other at Florida Atlantic, also study travel.

“It started with us observing an increased level of stress at the airports,” said Jace.

Sticking with that professional approach, the professors wanted to find out why.

They surveyed international business travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta and Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Their questions focused on three categories. The first looked to measure the overall anxiety of the trip.

“It started with us observing an increased level of stress at the airports, stress about other passengers’ behavior and trust in the airline,” said Jace. “What we found is that people are actually still most concerned about their bags being delayed. People have anxiety about this.”

From lost luggage to delays to rowdy passengers, it makes travelers more anxious than ever about flying.

These business professors honed in on improving business travel. Their solution? Turn a work trip into a vacation.

“Americans don’t like to do that. They don’t like to add on. They feel guilty adding a day on the front end or two days on the back end just to play, but what we found is that it really does help, and it makes you a better employee,” said Jace.

Scott Lerner proves that theory.

“I like to keep it as short as possible,” said Scott Lerner.

Not all of you travel for work, so why should you care? Miriam Dotson with the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau explained that one in five jobs are related to tourism.

“Tourism is a $5 billion industry just in our region alone. That includes the business traveler,” said Dotson.

Tourism keeps your taxes low. Dotson said part of the reason we don’t pay income tax is because we have bed tax, which is that little extra added to hotels or rentals that visitors pay.

The professors have released their findings and want to start selling their ideas to companies.