Accept pets - Increase your bookings

It really works: Yes to Fido means Yes to $$$!

The fact that pet owners often encounter obstacles vacationing with their pets while staying in hotels or resorts means that you can gain a huge advantage by accepting pets into your vacation rental.

Consider the numbers: 62% of US households (as an example) include at least one pet. That’s 83.3 million dogs in the US alone. More people than ever travel with pets (about 30 million people per year in the US) and are looking for pet-friendly arrangements. This infographic gives a good overview of the trends.

We do understand that there are some issues to consider and manage. Some people have allergies; however, this apparently only affects less than 10% of the US population and even people with allergies might still consider renting your pet-friendly property after it has been cleaned. Cleaning could take a bit longer and cost a bit more.

Now consider that you can greatly increase your bookings, especially off-season time periods, and attract a lot more guests to your property. It has been estimated that your occupancy will increase by 10 to 50% by accepting dogs, and by charging a bit of extra per night for a pet you instantly collect the money for carpet cleaning should it be necessary.

The benefits and extra income you gain from accepting pets in your property will outweigh those drawbacks. Just one extra booking will probably make up for the additional cleaning expenses, and any wear and tear can be minimized by communicating “pet rules” such as no pets on furniture, no leaving pets alone in the house or strict pick-up rules for outside areas. Pet owners are typically very grateful that they can share their vacation time with all parts of the family, including their pets, and will be considerate and appreciative.