Promoting ‘hound pound’ Scottish vacations

A digital marketing campaign targeting the ‘hound pound’ – the money spent by pet-owners who take their four-legged friends on holiday – has been awarded £20,000 by Visit Scotland.

With the first award from its new-look Growth Fund, the national tourism organisation has match-funded the £40,000 Paws for a Break campaign led by the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers’ (ASSC) Embrace Scotland website.

More than half of the ASSC’s 600 members accept pets, and the association is keen to encourage more to promote their animal-friendly credentials.

Visit Scotland research shows that 30% of holiday-makers base their holiday around a destination’s suitability for their pet, and 72% of dog owners say they would take more holidays in the UK if there were a better attitude towards their canine companions.

Further research showed holidays with pets had an average extra spend of £126 compared to holidays without pets.

The ASSC, via its Embrace Scotland consumer-facing website, aims to show that taking a self-catering property is “the easiest and most flexible way of holidaying with a pet.”

Linda Battison of the ASSC, said: “Many members already provide a warm welcome to pet owners but we want to encourage them to go that extra mile and ensure potential customers know what they offer.”

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of Visit Scotland, said: “Visit Scotland’s Growth Fund supports collaborative tourism marketing projects that focus on growth in the tourism sector and ensure that visitors experience the true Spirit of Scotland.

“Pet tourism could be worth millions of pounds to Scotland’s visitor economy, so we are delighted to help the ASSC as they attempt to unlock this potentially lucrative market.”

Daisy Butcher and pup Scrabble at Loch Lomond.