Pet-Friendly Travel Survey: About Half Care More About Pets' Comfort

Pet-owning consumers are increasingly willing to spend on various products and services for their furry friends. And that willingness to spend is also having an impact on the travel industry. But according to a study from TripAdvisor, not all pet owners are satisfied with the accommodations that are available for them to stay with their pets while traveling. So how many pet owners are interested in pet-friendly travel options? And what are some of the most accommodating brands out there currently? We asked 1,000 respondents about their thoughts on pet-friendly travel.

Pet Owners

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest online survey, 33% of respondents said they currently have multiple pets. And 27% said they have just one pet. Of those respondents, 60% said they have dogs. 57% have cats. And just 16% own other types of pets.

Travel Habits

Overall, 5% of pet-owning respondents said they’ve traveled within the past week. 13% have traveled in the past month. 17% have traveled within the past three months. 22% have within the past year. 7% have in the past two years. 18% said they last traveled more than two years ago. And 19% aren’t travelers at all. In addition, just 3% of respondents said that they last traveled with their pets within the past week. 7% last traveled with their pets within the past month. 10% have within the past three months. 13% have within the past year. 3% have within the past two years. 11% said that it’s been more than two years since they last traveled with their pets. And 52% of pet owners said they’ve never traveled with their pets.

Pet-Friendly Travel

In general, 41% of pet owners said that they’ll only ever stay at pet-friendly accommodations when they travel. 43% said that they’ll only ever use pet-friendly transportation methods. And 48% said that they actually care about their pets’ comfort more than their own when traveling. Those who have traveled with their pets mentioned La Quinta, Hilton, Marriott and Southwest as some of their favorite pet-friendly travel brands.In addition, 7% of pet owners said that they always board or kennel their pets when they travel. 7% do so most of the time. And another 7% said they do so about half the time. 16% said they rarely ever board their pets when they travel. And 64% never do.

Key Takeaways

It seems that pet owners are slightly more likely to travel with their pets than they are to board or kennel them. And those who have traveled with animals seem to take the comfort of those animals very seriously. So it could be worth it for pet-friendly travel brands to include some of their pet-friendly options or features in marketing efforts. In addition, aside from a few mentions, there weren’t really any stand-out brands for pet-owning travelers, so there’s room for brands to really stand out from others by offering unique features or extras for pet owners. It could also be worthwhile for other travel brands that don’t currently offer any pet-friendly options to consider doing so in the future. Since the majority of consumers currently own pets, the popularity of pet-friendly options in the travel industry and beyond is likely to continue growing. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: P1020799 by Can Do Canines under CC BY 2.0What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on January 9-15 via AYTM’s online survey panel.