June 2020 Trend Report: Pet Owners Turn to Road Trips For Summer Travel
Since we last reported on global pet sitting and travel trends in April, we’ve seen a slight uptick in overnight bookings on Rover. Similarly, travel-related searches in Google are also showing upward movement, an early indicator of potential business for sitters on Rover.
While the COVID-19 pandemic undeniably upset the travel industry, and also the frequency pet owners need pet care, we at Rover are encouraged by the continued pet adoption trend and the recent increase in bookings. The chart below shows that searches for ‘dog adoption’ in Google have mostly flattened but maintained the increased volume from March.
The travel industry is picking up, which typically correlates to more bookings for sitters on Rover. Though many states are still discouraging non-essential travel by plane, people are finding other ways to get away this summer.
Summer activities accessible by RV or car are growing in popularity, as is camping. It’s likely that many pet parents will bring their dog along on these trips, but we expect there to be situations where they might instead look for a sitter on Rover. Some National Parks don’t allow dogs, for example.
Rover community member Jennifer Newheiser said she has pivoted her summer travel plans to stay closer to home and travel by car. She plans to take her family to the Washington coast.
“We rented a house there and are planning on spending a week biking around the area, playing with our kid out in their parks and going to the beach,” Newheiser said.
She decided to leave her dogs with her go-to sitter on Rover, even though they could have joined on the road trip.
Her dogs Kiwi and Bowser are getting older and grumpier, she said. They need to go to the bathroom more often and aren’t always up for the adventure.
“I have already hired a wonderful sitter on Rover and am very excited that the dogs will be getting even more love with her around than I can provide,” Newheiser said.
Since we last reported in April, ‘dog boarding’ is trending up in global Google search.
Similarly, hotels are reporting a modest increase in occupancy, which we can see reflected in global search trends as well.
It’s clear that though summer travel plans certainly look different than expected, people are finding ways to get outside. While we expect some of these pet owners to bring their pups along with them on road trips and camping excursions, we know there will be many scenarios where they’ll instead opt for the care of a sitter on Rover.