The new deluxe travelers: Humans welcome, too

In the stove-lined kitchen of the ritzy Loews Beverly Hills Hotel, sous-chef Michael Thrash is a man on a culinary mission. He delicately slices scallions and carrots, flambés prime filet mignon, and scrambles eggs with rice in a clarified butter sauce. He slices the steak into bite-size chunks and arranges a room service tray for Room 12 - replete with bottled Evian water.

Minutes after delivering his creation with a discreet rap on the hotel room door, Chef Thrash receives an animated compliment: the high-pitched yap of a Wheaton terrier.

It is a trend that is driving some fellow vacationers completely around the dogleg, but is luring thousands of Americans out of their stay-at-home cocoons. A growing number of travel industries are making new efforts to design ways so that the furry, feathered, and fanged can join in on the great American vacation.

• At Colorado Canine Adventure Trips in Boulder, dogs and owners raft and camp in the Rocky Mountain Brown's Canyon.

• At Dog Days of Wisconsin in Waukesha, campers and their pets can sign up for First Aid, agility classes, and Barks and Crafts as well as enjoy water sports and hiking trails with their favorite pooch.

• At the Aquarium at Key West, Fla., dogs, cats, hamsters, parrots, and other pets are all welcomed at sting ray and shark feedings as well as guided tours of fish tanks and turtle quarters.

"There is a great social shift in America where pets have transitioned from being ornaments and playthings in backyards and family rooms to being considered part of the family," says Tierra Griffiths, spokeswoman for the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. "The travel industry has begun to tap into that deeper sense of companionship between pet lovers and their pets."

With their eyes on the $32.4 billion that pet owners shelled out last year for amenities ranging from doggie goggles to pet-sleeping bags, she and others say more companies are catering to this demand. According to AAA, the number of lodgings now accepting pets has perked up this year - 8 percent in 2003 compared to 4 percent in two prior years - partly because of 9/11.

"The word is getting out that you can travel widely and do more activities with your dogs and other pets and so its becoming normal and even expected by more and more people," says Tara Kain, president of dogfriendly.com, a website that publishes guidebooks to dog-friendly hotels and tourist destinations. Five years ago the trend was building slowly, she says. Now, aided in part by the Internet (such as takeyourpet.com or pettravel.com) which makes it easier to find and schedule pet-friendly accommodations and activities in every state, the idea is taking off.

"The hotel and travel industry has been depressed for the past couple of years and travel operators of all kinds are trying to come up with ways to reverse that trend," says Janie Graziani, spokeswoman for AAA. Of those who travel with pets, AAA studies show 14 percent travel with cats and 78 percent with dogs. Thirty million canines are first mates of the open road. Why not give them more to do?

Also bolstering the interest, she and others say, are US demographic trends. There simply are greater numbers of singles and the elderly - many of whom rely on pets for companionship. Research on the health benefits of owning pets (promoting calm amidst overscheduled lives) is finding a responsive audience. The US pet population has reached 353 million animals - with some 62 percent of all US households owning at least one pet - and travel operators are playing into the fact that people are loath to leave them alone.

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