Vacation Home Exchange Is On the Rise, But What About the Pets?

Nov. 15, 2010 - PRLog -- It’s a clever form of budget travel: swap homes with someone in a city you’d like to visit, and save money on hotels and meals. Thanks to weakened economies and higher airfares, vacation home exchange is enjoying a surge in popularity.  But for people who own pets, those last-minute airline deals and budget holidays go up in smoke when faced with finding a reliable pet sitter or paying high kennel fees, and for many pet owners it’s cheaper to just stay home.  According to GoCat.Travel, a home exchange site that caters to pet owners, it’s an overlooked market niche.

“So many airlines have such great last-minute deals – especially the European regionals like RyanAir with their £5 specials or easyJet with their weekend getaways – that are perfect for people in their twenties and thirties who are on a budget,” notes Susie Kahlich, GoCat Travel’s founder. “But if they have a pet, forget it.  Whatever they save on airfare and even home swaps, they spend on pet sitters and animal hotels.  Pet owners wind up staying home and an entire group of vacationers never gets to take advantage of these amazing deals.”

Cruise the message boards and forums of popular travel websites such as TripAdvisor or Fodors and one of the most heavily trending questions asked is what to do about pets.  Travel with pets to or within Europe can prove difficult and costly, especially with the new pet passport requirements, and travel with pets between Europe and the UK is next to impossible thanks to strict quarantine regulations.  And among home exchangers, not every homeowner is happy to host pet hair and potential damage from someone else’s dog or cat.  

Although some home exchange sites are now featuring a pet care option, budget traveling pet owners remain an underserved market.  Ms Kahlich weighs in:  “Pet owners deserve vacations too, but they shouldn’t be penalized because they choose to care for a domestic – or even exotic – animal. There is still a large segment of the population that loves to travel but is restricted due to pet care responsibilities and costs. We’re aiming to change that.”

GoCat Travel (http://gocat.travel) was founded in 2008 and launched in 2010, and provides international home exchange for pet owners and pet lovers through its secure, personalized database.

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Home exchange for people who love pets! Swap homes with other pet owners and save money on pet care!