NATION Industry makes room for pets

The number of pet-friendly lodgings has risen 17 percent in the past five years.
By DAVID LYMAN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
FENNVILLE, Mich. -- For most of us, planning a trip is simple. Pick a destination, find somewhere to stay and then get there.
For Marisa Bartolone, there's one more step: finding lodging for Kalix, her 95-pound golden retriever.
Never mind that it's more complicated to take a dog on vacation. Or that Kalix has a tendency to get carsick. Bartolone, a 36-year-old secretary in a Warren, Mich., insurance office, wouldn't dream of traveling without the lovable 6-year-old.
"None of that makes any difference -- he's kind of like a child to me," says Bartolone. "I know that sounds silly. But I just find that I enjoy myself better if he's with me."
Bartolone would be right at home at the Will O'Glenn Country Inn.
The first thing that David Stephenson and Eric Jensen did when they bought the Fennville bed-and-breakfast last year was to dump the no-pets policy. "Southwest Michigan's 1 Pet Friendly B & amp;B," says the inn's Web site (www.willoglenncountryinn.-com).
Saw a market
Even motels with the most generous policies rarely offer more than a few rooms for pets. But Stephenson and Jensen believed there was a sizable niche group just waiting to be served, so they took it to the extreme.
Every room in the place is a pet room.
"We're not pet-friendly," Stephenson says, "we're pet fanatics. In traveling for the last 10 years, we found that it was impossible to find someplace worthwhile that would accept the dog with us. We decided that wouldn't happen here."
The Fennville scenario is becoming increasingly common, according to the Travel Industry Association, which estimates that 14 percent of Americans who travel this spring and summer -- more than 230 million -- will do it in the company of the family pet.
That's more than 32 million people.
Dogs are by far the most common pets to travel with. The American Automobile Association says 78 percent of those who vacation with pets travel with dogs. An additional 15 percent take their cats along, while 2 percent travel with their birds. The rest is made up of a variety of animals, the most common being ferrets, rabbits and fish.
"It's gigantic," says Nick Sveslosky, editor of Fido Friendly Magazine. "And it's just going to keep growing."
Evidence of boom
Although there are no reliable figures on how much pet travel has increased, signs of its growth are everywhere.
Massive pet supply superstores proliferate throughout the suburbs. The number of pet-related travel accessories on the market has exploded. You can buy doggie seat belts, pet car seats, collapsible bowls, pet hammocks and sunscreen for animals. The number of pet-friendly, AAA-approved lodgings has increased more than 17 percent in the last five years. There's even an airline preparing to debut that will cater specifically to pets and their owners.
There is plenty of speculation about why we've changed our vacationing habits.
Some think it is the impact of the baby boom generation. Every year, more boomers become empty nesters. The kids are long gone and the only family they have at home are their pets.
Others cite the growing influence of the animal rights movement. It's not the radical fringe they're talking about. Rather, it's the way in which the movement has changed the way many of us regard our pets. Note, for instance, that more and more people are abandoning the phrase "pet owner" in favor of more politically correct phrases such as "pet guardian." Increasingly, people see leaving their pets in kennels or relying on friends to care for them as harsh.
Also, more people are paying big bucks for their pets. Thirty years ago, it was almost unheard of for anyone but breeders or serious pet show competitors to sink money into the purchase of a pet. Today, it's not uncommon for a middle-class family to pay $300-$400 for the family pooch.
More car travel
Even if you don't buy into any of those theories, there is the simple fact that post-9/11 Americans are much more hesitant to climb on planes. And Travel Industry Association studies tell us that the more people travel by car, the more likely they are to take pets with them.
"For people who are really involved with their careers and aren't focusing on having families yet, pets are about the best family they could have," says Bridget Johnson, editor of Cat Fancy Magazine. "And for them to leave the pet at home is unthinkable. They'd miss them too much. It's like withdrawal."
Besides, says Robyn Peters, publisher and editor of the DogGone Newsletter, pets make ideal traveling partners.
"They're absolutely loyal, they give unconditional love, they don't talk back. When was the last time you traveled with a human being with those qualities?"
Catering to pet lovers
Fortunately, there is no shortage of places out there that are more than happy to accept people and their pets.
Many national forests permit leashed pets.
Same with national lake shores and many state parks.
But nowhere is the trend so evident as in the lodging industry.
So far this summer, more than 60 percent of the guests at the Will O'Glenn Country Inn have been accompanied by pets. They pay a little more -- $15 a night -- but plenty of travelers are willing to fork it out.
The inn does have rules. Only dogs and horses are allowed, although the occasional cat has been permitted to spend the night.
Dogs must be house-trained. And it's forbidden to leave them in the room alone.
"We also say that they must be well-behaved and get along with others," Stephenson says.
But in return, they get to roam the fully fenced, 17-acre property -- on a leash, of course. And they get their own in-room baskets of goodies.
Many hoteliers remain adamant about keeping pets out.
But others have experimented and, for the most part, found they like the results.
Successful experiment
When the Holiday Inn in Spring Lake-Grand Haven, Mich., renovated its 123 rooms two years ago, the owners set aside eight rooms for people traveling with pets.
"We knew there was a market out there for this," says Bernadette Benkert, the motel's assistant general manager. "We just weren't sure how big it was."
The result, she says, surprised them.
"With the response we've gotten, we wish we had made it a little more pet-friendly. We waited to see if it was going to go. And right from the start, it was obvious this was really going to take off."