The business travel experience

The study explores the business travel experience as a framework of time with four phases: trip preparations, passenger experience, destination experience and homecoming. In-depth interviews with frequent business travelers indicate that their experience as passengers includes “moments of relaxation” and is perceived as a sort of “time off”, in which they enjoy their familiarity with airports, the comforts provided to privileged passengers and the limited connectivity during flights. The other phases of the trip are devoted mainly to work-obligations and shape the nature of the trip as primarily a vocational experience. These findings add insight to mobility research of tourism, conceptualizations of the nexus between work and tourism, and the literature on business travelers.