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| ▲ This photo, provided by Kensington Resort, shows vice general manager Border Collie Kenny of Kensington Resort, Chungju. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Sono International, shows Vivaldi Park Sono Pet Playground. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) - Lodging industries such as resorts and hotels are targeting "Pet-Family" by introducing rooms with pets.
Pet-fam is a combination of pet and family, and it refers to people who regard pets as family members.
According to GC Company on Sunday, the number of accommodations with pets that can be booked through their app was 1,404 as of last year, up 10% from the previous year (1,276).
Last year, the transaction amount of accommodation with pets also increased 55.2% from the previous year.
An official from the lodging industry explained, "As demand for traveling with pets and finding things to enjoy together increases, more and more people requires rooms or convenience facilities they can use with their pets."
This trend can also be seen in individual resorts.
The cumulative number of customers using Kensington Resort Chungju, which converted into a pet-friendly resort in December 2020, is about 50,000 and the number of dogs is about 65,000.
Kensington Resort Chungju has a total of 81 companion animal rooms. The share of these rooms reached 98 percent during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Among the programs, the Pet Friendly Care Service, in which Border Collie Kenny, who is named as the vice general manager, plays with dogs, is especially popular.
An official from Kensington Resort said, "Customer satisfaction is high with the service which dogs play indoors and outdoors with Kenny."
Sono International operates a total of 181 rooms with pets, including 155 rooms in Vivaldi Park in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, and 26 rooms in Sono Calm Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
These resorts are equipped with auxiliary facilities such as playgrounds and Thinking Dogs (cafes and restaurants).
An official from Sono International explained, "Even though Sono Pet rooms are more than 30% more expensive than regular rooms, it is difficult to make reservations on holidays and weekends," adding, "All of the rooms are fully booked during the Lunar New Year holiday."
Hotels are strengthening their pet-related packages.
Chosun Hotel & Resort's boutique hotel L’Escape Hotel will run the "Be Loved Friends" package until June, which provides exclusive snacks.
The hotel has 12 pet companion rooms.
The Four Seasons Hotel will also run a "Pamper Your Pet" package for pet-cance people until March.
It will provide a pet house of BERG&RIDGE, a premium pet product brand, in the existing companion package for dogs.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Yunhee Cho.)
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