Covid-19 saw both travel coming to a halt and more people getting pets. What about now that the world has opened up again? Forenom’s study says that furry friends are going on a holiday!
Using tools provided by Google, we took a look at dog owners’ searches and compared searching habits before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sharp rise in interest in traveling with dogs
Our study shows a surprisingly sharp increase in willingness to take furry friends on holiday. People today are 75 % more interested in traveling with dogs than before the pandemic. The tendency started showing already during the pandemic, and has been strengthening to this day.
Forenom’s study shows that people now are 75 % more interested in traveling with dogs than before Covid-19.*
Small-city dogs are going places
Size of the resident city seems to affect people’s willingness to travel with their pets. For example, in Vaasa, Lappeenranta and Kuopio, people were more interested in bringing their dog with them on a holiday than residents of larger cities, such as Helsinki.
Dog owners are interested in air travel
During Covid-19, the number of searches for train and air travel with dogs naturally decreased, but increased again when the travel restrictions were first eased. Now, these searches are back to normal. On the other hand, searches for traveling with dogs by car have decreased this year. It seems that the increased popularity of domestic tourism that occurred during the pandemic is leveling off as foreign trips are becoming more popular again.
What about cats?
Is the growing interest in traveling with pets just a dog owner thing, or is it a more general development? For comparison, we looked at similar searches for cats. It seems that the interest in traveling with a cat is on a similar rise, but the search volumes are significantly lower than for dogs, with more than three times more searches for traveling with dogs than for traveling with cats.
Demand for pet-friendly accommodation
The rising interest in traveling with pets will likely lead to higher demand for both pet-friendly holiday and work accommodation. Many of Forenom’s serviced apartments, aparthotels and hostels are already welcoming pets to stay with people.
*(Data coming from Google. We looked at 85 search terms that people use when researching traveling with dogs and compared the total search volume for these for the spring before, during and after covid)
**(Data coming from Google. We looked at 24 search terms that people use in different cities when researching traveling with dog and compared the total search volume for these for the spring before, during and after covidcovid)
***Data coming from Google. We looked at 26 search terms that people use when researching traveling with dog in different ways and compared the total search volume for these for the spring before, during and after covid)
****(Data coming from Google. We looked at 85 search terms that people use when researching traveling with cats and compared the total search volume for these for the spring before, during and after covid)
Data source: