With one estimate predicting that nearly 87 million people in 66% of U.S. households have pets, many of them must decide what to do with their furry companions when they travel.
While the traditional solution has been to leave larger pets at a kennel or with friends, a growing cohort are bringing them on both short and longer trips.
The travel platform Skift recently identified pet travel as a major industry for 2025. The pet-travel-services market was valued at $2 billion in 2023 and is expected to more than double to some $4.6 billion by 2032.
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Pet-travel accessories and the Bark Air carrier
Allied Market Research calculates a compounded annual growth rate of 5.4% for pet travel services in the next decade.
“As more people treat their pets as family, the need for travel services that cater to pets will continue to rise, creating lucrative opportunities for businesses in the pet travel sector,” write the authors of a Travel and Tour World report.
Related: This first-class airline was specifically made for dogs
For businesses, this can mean everything from marketing pet carriers and other travel accessories to making hotels and air travel more pet-friendly.
Since May 2023 the dog-treat company Bark has been partnering with a charter plane carrier for a luxury airline tailored specifically for dogs.
The Bark Air flights run between New York City and Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles and Stansted Airport in London. The planes have dogcentric cabins with space for the pups to move around and an in-flight menu full of treats for dogs and their owners.
While this seems like a lot of fun, ticket prices run steep: $6,000 for a domestic flight and $8,000 for the international one.
Standard flights have certain size restrictions for bringing pets into the cabin (or additional costs for animals that do not meet them) so the majority of pet travel still takes place primarily by road.
A recent survey by GlobalVetLink estimates that 78% of Americans with pets bring them on at least one trip per year, but nearly 90% of those trips are ones on which the people drive, rather than fly, to their destinations.
More hotels are becoming pet-friendly (here are some)
Hotels have also been adjusting their offerings for visitors who want to travel with their pets.
Major chains such as IHG (IHG) and Hilton (HGV) have recently changed their pet policies to make more of their hotels pet-friendly and advertise them as such. Some are entirely pet-friendly while others enable travelers to bring them to certain rooms for an extra charge.
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“Browse our selection of pet-friendly hotels near you and beyond, and rest easy knowing your furry or feathery friend will be happy during your stay,” IHG writes of its pet policy.
It adds: “When it comes to pet-friendly destinations, there are a few standouts. San Diego is known for its dog-friendly beaches, while Asheville, N.C., is a mecca for pet-friendly breweries and restaurants.”
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