It’s a dog’s life… online

New website marks Australia’s largest pet-friendly travel resource

Travel-savvy pet owners are set to celebrate the launch of a new online directory and iPhone

app for pet friendly travel and tourism across Australia this week.

Takeyourpet.com.au offers the nation’s largest comprehensive list of pet-friendly

accommodation, off-leash parks, dog beaches, travel tips and expert advice.

Launched this week by online entrepreneur and self-confessed animal-lover, Elyse Church, the site is expected to fill a gaping hole in Australia’s burgeoning pet-friendly travel market, where demand for suitable accommodation has increasingly outstripped supply.

“Whenever my husband and I go on holidays, it’s really hard to find location-specific

information about dog-friendly hotels or off-leash areas,” Mrs Church explains.

“In fact, we usually end up going somewhere that can accommodate our spoilt staffy Bonnie,

instead of finding dog-friendly accommodation in the place we originally wanted to go to.

“That just strikes me as being totally the wrong way around.”

Indeed, Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with more than

two thirds of all households counting a furry or feathered friend as part of the family.

On top of that, as many as 63 per cent of all households across the nation have more than

one pet under their roof.

The figure might seem alarming in an age of shrinking living space and tightening belts, but Mrs Church is not surprised.

“I’ve seen a huge growth in pet-related lifestyle products over the last five years,” she says,

including steadily rising interest in pet-friendly travel.

“After launching one of my first websites, www.findmeapet.com.au, I was overwhelmed with questions from new pet-owners about where and how they could travel with their animals, and I found that there really wasn’t a one-stop shop for pet-friendly travel information out there,” she explains.

“Now pet owners can easily find dog-friendly caravan parks, off-leash road stops, or pet- friendly hotels from their home office or iPhone — even if they’ve already packed their bags and left home.”

Both the website and app contain thousands of listing details, maps, contact information and expert tips for perfect holidays with the family pet, representing months of research and reviews by a team of animal-loving travelers.