VisitScotland’s research has shown that the pets market is large: 46% of all UK households have one pet or more and 31% of all households have a dog. Almost a third (30%) of holidaymakers plan their entire holiday around how suitable the destination is for their pet and 72% of dog owners claim they would take more holidays in the UK if there was a better attitude towards dogs. These potential customers are valuable – those that holiday with pets had an average spend of an extra £126 compared to holidays without pets, while over two thirds consider their dogs as family members when booking holidays.
The ASSC believes that self-catering should be a perfect fit for holiday-makers with pets and we’re keen to encourage more members to take their share of the ‘hound pound’.
In 2016, the ASSC won an award from VisitScotland’s Growth Fund to encourage our members to consider welcoming pets and to highlight to visitors to Scotland the advantages of choosing self-catering accommodation when holidaying with the family pet. Our activity focuses on dogs, but we are also featuring properties which welcome other pets, including horses.
With this in mind we’ve introduced a new Pets Welcome Charter and we’re asking out pet friendly properties to sign up to the Charter and to use the Charter mark.
ASSC Members offer guests a warm welcome and many members already welcome pets. The ASSC’s Paws for a Break Pet Welcome Charter allows you to show potential guests that you make an extra effort to ensure pet owners feel comfortable on holiday, with appropriate facilities and services that demonstrate an alignment to the ASSC’s long-standing commitment to quality, which helps us stand out in a crowded marketplace.
If facilities meet or exceed expectation of guests and pets alike, guests are more likely to return year on year.
To qualify as a Paws for a Break Pet Welcome Charter Member:
INFORMATION TO BE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED ON YOUR WEBSITE
YOUR PROPERTY
You should provide:
You might like to consider providing
As a property owner, you may wish to go even further and offer more facilities to your pet owning guests, and exceed guest expectations: branded dog blanket, dog tags, lead, dog walking, day kennels, treats, dog grooming etc.