Many business travelers are quietly taking their families along on trips

When American Natasha Colkmire returned to enactment aft having her archetypal child, she didn't privation to permission her newborn lad with a nanny to spell connected a concern trip.

So she convinced a household subordinate to tag along.

"They would conscionable up with maine erstwhile my lad needed to beryllium nursed," she said. "We besides had the evenings together."

The travel worked truthful good that Colkmire took much concern trips with non-colleague companions.

"My grandma went to Houston with me, a person went to St. Paul, and my ma helped maine erstwhile I needed to bash a occupation successful Washington D.C.," she said. "Each idiosyncratic loved getting the escaped trip."

More than fractional of concern travelers (55%) person had loved ones articulation their enactment trips, according to a survey of 4,000 adults from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Spain published Wednesday by the question tech institution TravelPerk.

Among C-suite executives, the fig jumped to 73% — with executives saying they've had partners (53%), children (22%), friends (21%), and adjacent pets (7%) articulation their concern trips, according to TravelPerk's data.

For some, bringing loved ones connected concern trips is simply a mode to reclaim clip together, according to Jean-Christophe Taunay-Bucalo, TravelPerk's president and COO.

"Traveling for enactment tin beryllium lonely," helium told CNBC Travel. "Work trips tin beryllium an accidental to acquisition thing new, and by taking a loved 1 along, you stay connected."

Plus, concern travelers don't person to miss household time, beryllium it bedtimes oregon birthdays, said Taunay-Bucalo.

"For me, it's astir having the champion of some worlds, and sometimes performing astatine my highest besides means seeing my kid astatine the extremity of a enactment time — it provides immoderate normality," helium said.

Other concern travelers who spoke to CNBC said determination is different information — money.

Colkmire, who present runs a question website, recalled the clip she joined her hubby connected a enactment travel to Vienna, Austria.

"Our disbursal was chopped successful half, which was a immense blessing truthful that we were capable to research an country of the satellite that we had not yet been to without breaking the bank," she said.

Bridgette Borst Ombres, a erstwhile writer turned nationalist relations consultant, said she has utilized enactment trips to make "budget-friendly mini-vacations" for her family.

"Attending a tech league astatine Disney World successful Orlando, Florida, was the cleanable concern travel to bring on my hubby and then-2-year-old daughter," she said. "The league lasted 2 days, truthful portion I was working, my hubby took our girl to sojourn his dad, who lived successful the area, and we'd conscionable up for meal successful the evenings."

After the league ended, Ombres and her household spent a fewer days astatine Walt Disney World.

"My edifice was covered by my institution for the archetypal 2 days, but I paid for the further nights and each of our activities. My level summons was besides covered by the institution but I purchased my husband's summons separately," she said.

That blend of idiosyncratic and concern travel, oregon "bleisure" arsenic it's known, was valued astatine $315 cardinal successful 2022 by Allied Market Research. The advisory steadfast projects blended trips volition scope $731 cardinal globally by 2032.

Bringing loved ones connected concern trips is communal and mostly accepted, said Frank Harrison, determination information manager for the Americas astatine hazard absorption institution World Travel Protection.

However, that doesn't mean that employees are revealing their plans to their companies.

"I didn't support [my] question plans a secret, nor did I broadcast them to coworkers," Ombres said. "Part of it was worrying it mightiness travel crossed arsenic unprofessional."

Deepak Shukla, CEO of the London-based selling institution Pearl Lemon, said he's turned three-day enactment trips into week-long adventures with his woman successful New York City, Lisbon, Dubai and Tokyo.

"I don't fell it from my team," helium said. "If the work's done and costs aren't creeping into the institution card, it's nobody's business."

However, helium said large corporations often presumption traveling with household arsenic a "policy grey zone."

"The sticking points are disbursal claims, security coverage, and whether leisure days blur into workdays ... [which are] messy for taxation and liability," helium said. "That's wherefore immoderate companies softly let it but expect employees to support receipts and activities intelligibly split." 

Ombres said allowing household and friends to articulation concern trips tin boost morale and physique loyalty among employees.

"I'm each for it," she said. "As agelong arsenic it doesn't interfere with the work."

She said she sets wide expectations for enactment to beryllium completed connected trips, and arsenic agelong arsenic that's met, "there's nary crushed to effort to micromanage however radical walk their idiosyncratic time."

Gabe Richman, CEO of Seattle-based biotech institution Omic, agreed, saying he's combined enactment trips with household vacations successful San Diego and Frankfurt, Germany.

He said helium encourages employees to question with loved ones arsenic agelong arsenic "business objectives are met first." He said employees should intelligibly abstracted idiosyncratic and enactment expenses and guarantee companies incur nary further costs. Travelers should besides beryllium transparent astir their plans with their companies, helium said.

Beyond that, travelers should marque the astir of the travel — for concern and pleasure.

"Business takes maine to places we'd ne'er abrogation to otherwise." helium said. "Why discarded the opportunity?"