Visit Wales: A campaign tailored to tails!

Are you a dog friendly business? Do you go the extra mile to ensure our four-legged friends are welcomed?  If so, this is your opportunity to be part of Visit Wales' early summer marketing campaign where they'll be targeting dogs (and their owners) to choose Wales for their short breaks and holidays.

Did you know that 31% of UK households own a dog, making dog-friendly holidays and breaks a significant market. There has been a surge recently with “needy” dogs — pandemic pooches that don’t want to be left alone or booked into a kennel — meaning dog owners are increasingly taking their pets on holidays with them. Google trends has identified “dog friendly hotels” as a breakout search term (Jan 2024) and engagement with pet friendly content on visitwales.com has increased over 20% year on year and searches for pet friendly products by 155% year on year.

Visit Wales is capitalising on these opportunities by planning a targeted campaign to resonate with dog owners, especially those who are most likely to holiday in the UK with their pets.  Pet content is among the most popular types of content on social media too, so massive opportunity to gain traction for Wales as a pet friendly, welcoming destination.  

The campaign will be driving traffic to www.visitwales.com and Visit Wales will provide more details in the coming weeks. In the meantime, to maximise on these marketing opportunities, please take a few minutes to ensure your product listing page is up-to-date:

• Log into the product listing admin tool, check the details under each heading.
• To tag your “dog friendly” listing, scroll down to "Facilities" and tick the "Pets Accepted" box.
• Click "Save".
• Your listing will then appear in the search results when the end-user ticks the ‘Pets Accepted’ sub-category of the Search filter.
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Did you know Visit Wales have a Pets Welcome Award?  To find out details about our Welcome Awards, please go to: Star quality grading | Business Wales (gov.wales)

Do you provide any special facilities, treats or welcome hampers especially for dogs?  Let Visit Wales know what makes your business special, we’ll be incorporating the best and most innovative examples within the campaign, email us on [email protected].

MWT Cymru | Mid Wales Tourism Members: Please also log in to update your details on Visit Mid Wales, and email [email protected] with examples of your dog friendly facilities.

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