A recent piece of research by a UK based travel agency revealed that 14% of people in the UK who own a pet or pets intend to take them with them when they holiday abroad this year. One of the main reasons for this was because they can’t find anyone else to look after them.

Research has shown that many people in the UK who intend to go on holiday this year would like to bring their pets along. An online travel agency came to this conclusion after a survey. The survey also touched on the reasons behind why people want to do this, with one of the top five reasons being because people feared their pet(s) would otherwise miss them too much.

UK online travel agency  has been looking into how British people experience and prefer their holidays. For this part of the survey, they interviewed some 2,155 people, all of whom were residents of the UK, over the age of 18, had been on holiday in the past year and owned a pet.

They were initially asked the question ‘Have you ever taken a pet abroad on holiday with you?’. Only 3% of people answered that they had. The second questions asked whether they were planning on going on holiday this year and bringing their pet(s) and 14% of people answered that they were.

The survey then looked at reasons why people would want to take their pet(s) along. A number of options were provided and they could choose any and all that applied to them. As a result, the following became the top 5 answers:

1. Not trusting other people to properly care for pets was the answer in 51% of cases.
2. Missing their pet(s) when they go on holiday was the answer in 33% of cases.
3. Family holidays not being complete without pets there was the answer in 17% of cases.
4. Finding it impossible to find someone to look after the pet(s) was the answer in 13% of cases.
5. Believing the pet(s) would miss their human(s) too much was the answer in 7% of cases.

People were then asked what type of pet(s) they owned. The answer was a dog in 76% of cases, and a cat in 16% of cases. Then, the survey looked into the destination of the upcoming holiday with a pet, with 98% of people saying ‘within Europe’. Additionally, 56% of people who said that they would take their pet also indicated that they would drive or take a ferry and 42% said they would look at ‘a villa’ for accommodation.

Interestingly, people were also asked if they knew what requirements were in place in order to bring a pet along with them. 53% said that they had not studied these yet.

At the same time, 47% said this would not be the first time they would take their pets along, although they had previously only taken them within the UK.

The managing director of Sunshine.co.uk, Chris Clarkson, said:

“Over the years, it has certainly become easier for people to take their pets abroad with them. However, if you are only going away for a week or two, the travelling could be more distressing for your pet than leaving them back home, even if you do think they’ll miss your company. Leaving your pet in the safe hands of a friend or family member will enable you to go away and enjoy your holiday without having to think about your pet. If you do end up missing them too much, there’s always video chat!”

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