Winter business travel is blending with recreation in mountain hubs

Research from Navan, Skift and other travel sources points to a growing shift toward blended business and leisure trips, especially in mountain markets like Bozeman, Montana. The trend is pushing corporate planners to favor destinations that pair meeting space, digital infrastructure and easy access to skiing and other winter recreation.

Why it matters: - Corporate travel is moving beyond the traditional Monday-through-Friday meeting model. - Destination choice now increasingly depends on whether a market can support both productive work time and weekend recreation. - Hotels and regional business hubs that offer meeting space plus outdoor access are better positioned to capture higher-value executive travel.

What happened: - Research published by Navan and Skift found that 55 percent of corporate travelers took blended business and leisure trips in 2024. - The global blended business-and-personal travel market reached $762 billion in 2025. - Regional data shows mountain business hubs see more commercial travel during winter quarter planning cycles. - The Montana High Tech Business Alliance and the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research reported that Montana’s high-tech sector generated $7.9 billion in revenue in 2024. - That sector grew at twice the rate of the overall state economy. - Documents from Montana’s Department of Commerce indicate that the expanding commercial footprint is driving travel during off-peak and winter months. - Engine Travel’s Corporate Travel Trends report identifies mountain and outdoor-oriented regions as attractive for mid-week business meetings followed by weekend skiing or other outdoor activities.

The details: - Corporate travel managers are being pushed to prioritize destinations with meeting facilities and recreational access. - Montana is being positioned as a fit for executive offsites that need high-speed digital infrastructure and central business locations during work hours. - Bridger Bowl and Big Sky Resort are cited as nearby ski options for travelers extending stays into the weekend. - Bozeman corporate retreats can be structured around mid-week business itineraries and weekend networking time. - The AC Hotel Bozeman Downtown sits in the city’s commercial core and is presented as an example of a property built for blended trips. - The hotel offers 2,500 square feet of event space across three conference rooms. - The property also gives guests direct access to downtown Bozeman activities and nearby outdoor recreation. - AC Hotel Bozeman Downtown has 143 rooms. - Guest-room amenities include 55-inch LCD televisions, complimentary high-speed wireless internet access, dedicated work desks and mini-refrigerators. - The hotel includes a 24-hour fitness center with Life Fitness cardio equipment and free weights. - The property also has a 24-hour business center. - Dining options include the AC Kitchen for European-style breakfast, the AC Lounge for tapas and AC Benchmark, a sixth-floor rooftop bar and lounge overlooking the Gallatin Mountains.

Between the lines: - The trend suggests winter business travel is becoming a tool for both productivity and employee experience. - Mountain destinations can use recreation access as a competitive advantage when competing for executive meetings and retreats. - Hotels that can serve daytime work needs and weekend leisure plans may benefit from longer stays and stronger demand in off-peak periods.

What's next: - Corporate travel planners are likely to keep favoring destinations that combine business infrastructure with winter recreation. - Bozeman and similar mountain hubs may continue to see demand from companies scheduling offsites, retreats and planning sessions around ski-season travel. - Hotels in these markets will likely keep emphasizing meeting space, connectivity and proximity to outdoor activities as key selling points.

The bottom line: - Winter business travel is increasingly a hybrid product, and mountain markets like Bozeman are built to benefit from that shift.