Dog Friendly Hot Tub Breaks Overtake Holidays Abroad as UK Staycations Surge
UNITED KINGDOM – 22 July, 2026 – For the first time in recent years, more Brits are choosing a UK staycation over a holiday abroad, and new data suggests Britain’s booming population of dog owners is quietly driving the shift.
According to new holiday park operator data, 52% of Brits are planning a UK staycation this year, compared with just 46% planning to travel overseas. Separately, a poll of 2,000 Britons found more than 25 million UK adults are ruling out travel abroad in 2026, with 48% citing cost of living pressures as their primary reason, according to National Rail-commissioned research.
The counter-intuitive twist, according to Dog Friendly Hot Tub Breaks, is that this isn’t simply a story of Brits tightening their belts. It is also a story about who gets to come on holiday. The UK’s dog population has reached a record high of 11.1 million, according to the PDSA’s 2025 PAW Report, and around 70% of dog owners say they want to bring their dog with them when they travel, according to Dogs Trust research.
That demand is already reshaping the holiday market. Dog bookings accounted for 31% of all 2026 reservations at one major UK holiday cottage operator, with more than 35,000 pet bookings already confirmed for the year, according to Sykes Holiday Cottages. For many owners, staying in the UK with a dog-friendly hot tub break is not a downgrade from a holiday abroad. It is an upgrade: no kennel fees, no separation anxiety, and a relaxing break that includes the whole family.
With the average UK staycation now costing around £312 per trip, according to staycation industry data, and boarding a dog for a week routinely costing more than that, Dog Friendly Hot Tub Breaks says more owners are doing the sums and realising a UK break with their dog can work out cheaper, not just easier, than paying someone else to look after a pet they would rather bring along.
“There’s a real shift happening in how Britain holidays, and dog owners are right at the centre of it,” said a spokesperson for Dog Friendly Hot Tub Breaks. “People aren’t just staying in the UK to save money on flights. They’re realising that if they book somewhere genuinely dog friendly, complete with a hot tub to relax in after a day of walks, they get a better break than they would abroad, at a fraction of the cost of boarding the dog they’d otherwise have to leave behind.”
Dog Friendly Hot Tub Breaks connects owners with hand-picked UK properties that welcome dogs of all sizes and include private hot tubs, from Cornwall’s dog-friendly beaches to Northumberland’s coastal trails. The company says bookings for 2026 are already tracking well ahead of last year, in line with the wider national trend.
As more Brits weigh up cost and their four-legged family members, Dog Friendly Hot Tub Breaks predicts the category will keep growing as one of the fastest within the UK’s staycation boom.
Media Contact
Company Name: Dog Friendly Hot Tub Breaks
Contact Person: Christina Armstrong
Email: Send Email
Country: United Kingdom
Website: https://www.dogfriendlyhottubbreaks.com/
