What could be better than having your best friend spending the vacation with you? Nothing is comparable to the amount of fun you can have. But what if the best friend is a dog? You can’t squander the free time just sitting at home. Its time you got equipped with hotels and tours which allow you to be accompanied by your canines and pets. From plush hotels to, well, ruffing it at campgrounds, the travel industry has more options available for people traveling with their four-legged friends. Now from the French Alps to the New York Catskills and the California wine country, companies are offering tours where dogs are welcome and arrangements for man and beast are all made ahead of time. “A lot of times, people travel with their dogs because they don’t see the dog often enough during the time they are working,” said Tara Kain.
She and her husband, Len, operate DogFriendly.com and publish a guidebook of hotels and attractions in North America that welcome dogs. In the eight years, the couple has operated the Web site, more hotels have started accepting dogs, she said. Some even cater to pampered pooches.
According to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than 29 million Americans took trips of more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) with their pets during the past three years. Almost 80 percent of those travelers took dogs. About 15 percent took cats, while the rest took birds, ferrets, rabbits, or that quietest traveler of all, fish. Whatever the species is there is enough space for all now. Cheers to that!
