Unleash your wanderlust: Top travel ideas for pet owners

(BPT) – Pets are like family and they bring deep meaning to life. While summer vacations can be exciting, bringing all family members along for the stay can make travel memories even richer. Are you ready to plan a summer getaway with your beloved pets?According to data from Hilton, nearly 80 percent of pet owners say their pets influence the activities they plan and the destinations they visit. With scenic dog-friendly hikes across the U.S., outdoor beer gardens, hotels, restaurants and even entire cities catering to furry friends in creative ways, there are new opportunities to make incredible memories together while traveling with ease.Fur-ociously fun accommodationsWhen traveling with your pets, it matters where you stay, which is why Hilton’s pet-welcoming hotels make bucket-list travel with your pets easier and better than ever. With more than 5,000 pet-friendly hotels across the United States and Canada, Hilton makes it easy to pair the fun summer vacation with the perfect stay. For example, you’ll find enough room for you and your pets to spread out at Home2 Suites by Hilton, Hilton’s first-ever pet-friendly brand, a thoughtfully local stay and comfy pet beds at Canopy by Hilton, and homelike accommodations while on the road at Homewood Suites by Hilton.More than 9 in 10 travelers agree that a hotel stay experience can make or break your trip, and if your pet is happy and feels taken care of, you are too. Hilton’s pet-friendly accommodations provide a seamless hotel stay, from the booking process, where you can search for pet-friendly properties, to arrival, when pets take refuge from the road.Paws-itively amazing travel ideasWhen traveling with pets, seek pet-friendly destinations that allow your furry companion to have some fun, such as those with ample green space to explore together. One of those destinations, the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, is home to one of the largest urban park systems in the U.S., with nearly 10,000 acres to enjoy.If it’s a beach vacation you’re after, turn to destinations that have dog-friendly beaches, such as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which provides pet-friendly morning and evening hours on its famous sand and boardwalk.You can even enjoy some kitsch on road trips with your pet, such as visiting the World’s Largest Fire Hydrant in Beaumont, Texas, or exploring the coastal sand dunes in North Bend, Oregon, in a pet-friendly dune buggy.With more than half of travelers (56%) concerned about having an easier travel experience in 2023, finding destinations that are heads and tails above the rest is a walk in the park with Mars Petcare’s BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ program, which celebrates and supports cities that strive to be pet-friendly. For example, Daytona Beach, Florida, is known for its fun activities for pets and their humans, such as Bark in the Park minor league baseball games, where four-legged friends can enjoy nine innings with a “pooch pass.”Another popular certified pet-friendly destination is Nashville, a city so pet-welcoming that its airport is filled with amenities to make travel easier, including a dedicated dog park with a dog drinking fountain, indoor relief areas and pet-themed murals in the terminals for selfies with your best friend.So grab your leashes, pack up your dog beds, water bowls and a favorite toy or two and get ready to hit the road with your pets on the best summer family vacation yet.