Report
Redesigning travel for guests who bring their pets
5 min read · Updated today
Multispecies families, falling birth rates and experiences designed for dogs and cats.
Lens:HotelsDestinationsTour operators
01 · Traveler profile
Tour operatorsWho is this traveler?
Pet travelers plan trips around their dogs (and increasingly cats). Booking.com's Pet-Friendly Travel research reports that a majority of pet owners would rather cancel a trip than leave their pet behind. Trips skew to drivable weekends, national-park regions and coastal towns; hotels win on real dog policy specifics, not marketing.
Demographics
- Core age 30-55; millennials and Gen X lead; growing Gen Z cohort traveling with rescue dogs
- Higher-than-average household income; ~$500-$1,200 incremental spend per trip on pet-inclusive rooms, sitters and gear (APPA 2024)
- 70%+ US households own a pet; 65M own a dog (APPA 2024 National Pet Owners Survey)
- Skews couples, singles with dogs, and families with kids + dog; 55%+ of pet owners have traveled with their pet in the last 12 months (AAA)
- Road-trip dominant: 78% of pet travelers drive rather than fly (Kampgrounds of America 2024 Camping & Outdoor Hospitality Report)
Motivations
- Avoid the guilt, cost and logistics of boarding or a pet sitter
- Include the dog as a full member of the family experience
- Choose destinations with off-leash beaches, trails and dog-welcoming restaurants
- Reconnect with a new rescue or senior dog through slower, low-stress travel
- Post-pandemic behavior: owners who adopted during 2020-2022 built travel habits around the pet
02 · What they seek
HotelsWhat they expect from a hotel.
Hotel expectations
- Transparent pet policy up front: weight limit, number of pets, breed restrictions, fees per night vs. per stay
- Real dog bed, bowls and welcome treat in the room; not just a signed waiver
- Ground-floor or elevator-adjacent rooms with quick outdoor access for potty breaks
- Designated relief areas on property with waste-bag stations and lighting for night walks
- Dog-friendly common areas: lobby, patio, restaurant terrace — not just the room
- In-room dining menu that includes a dog menu or plain protein option
Amenities valued
- Dog bed, bowls, waste bags, welcome treat kit provided at check-in
- On-property dog walker or partnership with a local dog-walking / daycare service
- Curated GPS routes for dog walks from the front door: 2 km, 5 km, off-leash loop
- Dog-menu at the restaurant, patio seating and a bowl of water at the host stand
- Emergency vet contact card and 24/7 concierge line for pet issues
- Grooming station or paw-wash near the entrance after muddy hikes or beach days
Deal breakers
- Hidden or per-night pet fees that surface at check-in and exceed $50-$75/night
- Blanket breed bans (pit-mix, shepherds) after the booking was confirmed
- No potty area on-site and no walking route within 5 minutes of the door
- Housekeeping refusing to enter a room with a crated, well-behaved dog
- Marketing as 'pet-friendly' but with kennels required and no in-room stay allowed
03 · Activities
Tour operatorsWhat they actually do on the trip.
01
Off-leash beach mornings and dog-friendly hiking trails
02
Outdoor patios at restaurants, wineries and breweries that welcome dogs
03
National / state park visits with pet-permitted trails and campgrounds
04
Group dog meetups organized by hotels or local dog-community apps
05
Dog-friendly boat tours, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards
06
Farmers markets, main-street strolls and outdoor festivals with dog corrals
07
In-room decompression days for senior or anxious dogs with room-service dining
08
Instagrammable dog-friendly photo spots that become part of the trip narrative
04 · Destinations
DestinationsPlaces currently winning this segment.
Asheville, North Carolina
Consistently ranked top US dog-friendly city with off-leash parks, patio dining and pet-welcoming boutique hotels.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Doheny beach access, dog menus at inns and a famously dog-forward downtown.
Bend, Oregon
Off-leash trails, dog-welcoming breweries and cabin inventory built for road trips with dogs.
Bariloche, Argentina
Estancias, lakeside cabañas and Patagonian trails increasingly marketed as pet-permitted stays.
Cornwall, United Kingdom
Dog-friendly beaches year-round and a mature cottage-rental market with clear pet policies.
Vienna, Austria
Dogs permitted on public transport, at cafés and in many museums; benchmark European dog-friendly city.
05 · Economics
HotelsHow the money flows.
Spend breakdown
US pet industry expenditure reached $147B in 2023 with pet services (grooming, boarding, travel) growing double digits (APPA). Pet travel adds a measurable premium: Booking.com and Expedia report pet-inclusive stays commanding 15-25% higher ADR than the same room without a pet fee, and average trip length is 1-2 nights longer because owners avoid same-day drives with dogs. The pet-friendly hotel segment is projected to grow at ~7-9% CAGR through 2030 (Grand View Research, Fortune Business Insights). Ancillary spend on dog menus, walking services and grooming adds $40-$120 per stay.
Booking lead time
Peak summer road-trip weekends book 2-4 months out; shoulder-season weekends 2-6 weeks; national-park windows in the US and Patagonia book 6-9 months ahead as pet-permitted cabins are scarce.
Booking channels
- Booking.com and Expedia pet-friendly filters (the most-used discovery surface)
- BringFido and GoPetFriendly — verticals with vetted pet policies and reviews
- Direct hotel booking after confirming the pet policy by phone or chat
- Airbnb and Vrbo filtered by 'pets allowed' with clear house rules
- Kampgrounds of America (KOA) and Hipcamp for camping and cabin road trips
06 · Competition & opportunity
HotelsWhere to play. What to avoid.
Saturation
The 'pet-friendly' label is oversupplied and underspecified. Most hotels tag the amenity but publish no weight limit, no fee, no relief area and no dog menu; guests learn the truth at check-in. The real opportunity is operational specificity: hotels that publish exact policies, invest in dog product and train staff win the repeat.
Winning plays
- Publish a single 'Pets at [property]' page with weight limit, fee, number of pets, breed policy, relief areas, dog menu and vet contact — end guessing
- Bundle a pet package (bed, bowls, welcome treat, dog walk, patio dinner) at a fixed premium instead of nickel-and-dime fees
- Partner with a local dog walker, daycare and mobile groomer as pre-bookable add-ons
- Design ground-floor or garden-facing pet rooms with hard floors, easy exits and washable rugs
- Train staff to greet the dog by name at check-in — the single most quoted moment in pet-travel reviews
Watchouts
- Hidden fees at check-in are the #1 negative review driver in the segment
- Blanket breed bans clash with adoption trends (pit-mix is the most-adopted US dog); vet-verified behavior beats breed lists
- 'Pet-friendly' with no dog on-site plan (kennels only, no rooms) is read as a bait-and-switch
- Ignoring cat and small-mammal travelers leaves 20%+ of the segment on the table
07 · Search demand by origin market
DestinationsHow each source market is searching this trend.
Origin market
France
July 2026
Terms analyzed · 5-year interest
voyager avec un chien
Related: voyager avec son chien · voyager en train avec un chien · air france
voyager avec un chat
Related: voyager avec son chat · air france · passeport chat
camping chien accepté
Related: camping avec chien accepté · camping avec chien · camping bretagne
vacances chien
Related: vacances avec chien · chien en vacances · location vacances
Sources
Google Trends · France · retrieved July 2026
Origin market
Canada
July 2026
Terms analyzed · 5-year interest
pet friendly hotels
Related: pet friendly hotel · best pet friendly hotels · pet friendly hotels ontario
pet friendly destinations
pet travel insurance
Related: pet insurance canada · best pet insurance canada · costco pet insurance
pet friendly airlines
Related: dog friendly airlines · air canada · american airlines
pet friendly countries
Related: best pet friendly hotels · pet friendly vacation rentals
Sources
Google Trends · Canada · retrieved July 2026
Origin market
United Kingdom
July 2026
Terms analyzed · 5-year interest
pet friendly hotels
Related: dog friendly hotels · pet friendly hotel · best pet friendly hotels
pet friendly countries
Related: pet friendly vacation rentals
pet friendly airlines
Related: pet friendly airlines uk · dog friendly airlines · pet friendly airlines in cabin
pet friendly destinations
pet travel insurance
Related: travel insurance uk · pet insurance uk · best pet insurance
Sources
Google Trends · United Kingdom · retrieved July 2026
Origin market
United States
July 2026
Terms analyzed · 5-year interest
pet friendly hotels
Related: hotels near me pet friendly · hotels near me · pet friendly hotel
pet friendly countries
Related: best pet friendly hotels · pet friendly vacation rentals
pet friendly airlines
Related: pet friendly hotels · dog airlines · dog friendly airlines
pet friendly destinations
Related: best pet friendly hotels · pet friendly vacation rentals · spring break destinations
pet travel insurance
Related: insurance for pet · best travel insurance · what is pet insurance
Sources
Google Trends · United States · retrieved July 2026
08 · Emerging signals
Tour operatorsWhat's quietly rising inside this behavior.
Booking.com's Pet-Friendly Travel Predictions consistently rank pets as a top booking filter, with over half of pet owners refusing to travel without them
Hilton, Kimpton, Marriott's Aloft and Virgin Hotels compete on branded pet programs (Canine Concierge, PAW, Loews Loves Pets)
Air travel: JSX, JetBlue and airBaltic expand in-cabin pet policies; Bark Air launches dog-first charter service in 2024
Rise of dog-inclusive weddings and multi-generational trips with the family dog as a planned guest
Pet insurance and telehealth vet apps (Fuzzy, AirVet) reduce the travel-risk barrier
National parks and protected areas piloting expanded pet-permitted trails to capture the segment without ecological cost
References · Sources & methodology
How this trend card was built.
- [01]Pet-Friendly Travel Predictions
Booking.com · 2024
Over half of pet owners refuse to travel without them; pet-inclusive stays growing double digits.
https://news.booking.com/pet-friendly-travel-is-on-the-rise/
- [02]2024 National Pet Owners Survey
American Pet Products Association (APPA) · 2024
US pet industry expenditure $147B; 65M dog-owning households.
https://www.americanpetproducts.org/research-insights/industry-trends-and-stats
- [03]2024 Camping & Outdoor Hospitality Report
Kampgrounds of America (KOA) · 2024
78% of pet travelers travel by car; camping and cabin stays over-index for pet travel.
https://koa.com/north-american-camping-report/
- [04]Pet-Friendly Hotels Market Analysis
Grand View Research · 2024
Segment CAGR projected 7-9% through 2030.
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/pet-friendly-hotel-market-report
- [05]Traveling with Pets
AAA Newsroom · 2024
55%+ of pet owners have traveled with a pet in the last 12 months; road trips dominate.
https://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/pet-travel/
- [06]BringFido — Pet-Friendly Travel Directory
BringFido · 2025
Curated inventory of vetted pet-friendly hotels, restaurants and activities.
https://www.bringfido.com/
- [07]Hilton 2025 Trends Report
Hilton · 2025
Pets as travel companions cited as a durable multi-year trend across segments.
https://stories.hilton.com/trends
- [08]Bark Air Launches Dog-First Airline
Bark · 2024
Charter service designed around dogs, not humans; signal of category expansion.
https://www.barkair.com/
Search demand data
Google Trends — Search demand & keyword data. Markets: France, Canada, United Kingdom, United States. Retrieved July 2026.
Qualitative narrative
Curated by runners. Sections 01–06 and 08 are written and reviewed by practitioners of this behavior, cross-checked against the sources listed above.
Base metrics
Growth YoY, market size, avg ticket, trip length and opportunity score come from an internal curated dataset. See sources above for supporting references.
Figures are directional estimates for strategic planning, not audited market data.
Take part
Share your travel experience in our open studies.
We run short surveys with travelers and industry operators to validate and enrich the data behind this trend.
See open studiesAnalysis last updated · July 2026
Go deeper on travelling with pets
Travelling with pets statistics 2026
Every figure on one page, with sources.
Travelling with pets for hotels
How a hotel can genuinely serve travelers who bring their dog.
Travelling with a dog in Europe
What the EU pet passport requires, which countries add rules, and how pets travel on European trains and ferries. Rules sourced from the European Commission.
In-depth analyses connected to this trend
Related reports
Who travels: access & company