The Role of Catteries and Boarding Kennels In Enabling Tourist Mobility

Abstract

Pets are increasingly being recognized as family members, leaving their owners with difficult decisions about how to care for them during periods of travel. Tourists can either travel with their pets, leave them in the care of family or friends, or use a paid service provided by an animal boarding facility or "pet hotel." We empirically explore the latter option and theorize pet hotels as enablers of tourist mobility in tourist-generating regions. User-generated content (UGC) consisting of textual pet owner reviews on Google Reviews and Facebook from boarding kennels and catteries across six countries are analyzed using qualitative content analysis. We identify three key themes revealing what users of these services emphasize in their reviews: first, catteries and boarding kennel enable pet owners to travel; second, these facilities alleviate tourists' feelings of guilt or worry; third, pets are imagined to be enjoying their own holidays while at the facilities. This research note sheds light on a growing cultural phenomenon relating to tourism among a globally mobile population for whom pets substitute or extend their human families.