اEgypt as a pet friendly destination: A constraint analysis of pet’s owners in Egypt

Abstract

Since there is a growing market for pet-friendly travel, many travelers take their pets on their vacations. As such, the study focuses on the factors influencing pet owners' choices when bringing their pets on vacation, as they must consider their own circumstances and the restrictions imposed on their animals. The paper also highlights the state of pet-friendly tourism in Egypt and the key factors that accommodation providers consider when offering pet-friendly services. This exploratory research conducted structured interviews with three focus groups. The first group was pet owners, and the second group was accommodation service providers (i.e., managers of hotels, motels, and hostels scattered throughout Cairo, Sharm El-Sheikh, and Hurghada). The final group interviewed ten travel agents face-to-face. The findings revealed that the pet tourism sector is still in its early stages. Moreover, many tourists wish to travel with their pets, but the limitations connected with pets, as well as the obligation to get the proper documents for overseas travel for pets and medical insurance, have a negative impact on their motivation and behavior.Pet owners desire a hassle-free journey and a place to reside that can meet all of their demands when they travel with their animals (Luna-Cortés, 2018). Individuals who own pets may be divided into a number of categories, including retirees, childless spouses, persons with disabilities who serve pets, and wealthy families (Ying et al., 2021). These folks are quite eager to shell out for pet-related services, which may be the driving force behind the new, burgeoning pet-friendly tourism business (Kretzler et al., 2022). People frequently bring their dogs on holidays with them because they view them as members of their family and assume that they would be regarded as tourists just like people.