SUCCESS CASES
Pet Tourism in Spain.Towards a more inclusive, sustainable and nature-connected model.
Mariano Galán | November 3, 2025
- Environment
7 min.
Tecnigral, in collaboration with SEGITTUR specialized companies Travelguau and Globaldit, participated in the development of the use case “Tourism with Pets”, a pioneering initiative led by Segittur to integrate this use case within the Smart Destination Platform framed in the Digital Transformation Plan.
The Smart Destinations Platform (PID) is a key initiative of the Secretary of State for Tourism.
Its main objective is to promote the sustainable development and digital activation of the tourism ecosystem within the Network of Smart Tourism Destinations (PRTR – NextGenerationEU).
In this way, it seeks to position Spanish tourism as a benchmark in tourism management and innovation. The IDP is developed and managed by SEGITTUR and is financed through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
This project, based on the “Tourism with Pets” use case, resulted in an exhaustive analysis of this emerging segment -that of travelers who share their experiences with their pets- and laid the methodological and technical foundations necessary to incorporate it into the Spanish tourism strategy, promoting a more inclusive, responsible and sustainable tourism.
The Challenge
The boom in pet travel is an unstoppable reality: almost half of Spanish households live with a pet and more and more families want to enjoy their vacations with them. However, the lack of homogeneous information, scattered regulations and the scarcity of adapted services hindered the development of a truly pet-friendly tourist offer.
Spending on pets is experiencing a sustained increase. In 2023, pet-related economic activity in Spain reached 5,770 million euros, consolidating its relevance. The adaptation of tourism infrastructures not only improves the tourist experience, but also attracts a growing market segment, contributing to the deseasonalization and diversification of the tourism offer.
Given the relative novelty of this tourism modality, it was crucial to develop an ad hoc extension of the Conceptual Semantic Reference Model for tourism. The challenge, taken on by Tecnigral with the collaboration of Globaldit, was to define a common language and semantic framework that would allow:
- Improve shared understanding of industry information.
- Facilitate the interoperability of supply and destination systems.
- Improve personalization and tourist satisfaction.
The ultimate goal was, therefore, to define a solid knowledge framework that would allow destinations to understand this segment, measure its impact and design data-driven tourism policies, while integrating these indicators into the future Smart Destination Platform.
Almost half of Spanish households live with a pet and more and more families want to enjoy their vacations with them.
The proposed solution
Tecnigral developed a comprehensive methodology of analysis and measurement aimed at understanding pet tourism as a tourism segment in its own right, with its own entity within the destination management model.
The main lines of work were:
- Analysis of the national and international pet tourism market and its evolution as an emerging tourism segment.
- Identification and evaluation of information sources -public and private- useful for the definition of management and promotion indicators.
- Design of a data model and a measurement methodology capable of evaluating pet-friendly supply and demand in tourist destinations, accommodations and services.
- Validation of the methodology in three pilot destinations (Gijón/Xixón, Valle del Jerte and San Lorenzo de El Escorial), contrasting results with local agents, accommodations and sector experts.
Tecnigral’s approach combined analytical rigor with a social and environmental perspective, integrating sustainability, coexistence and animal welfare as cross-cutting themes of the project.
Parallel to this main action, an analysis was made of the training offer, curricular designs and professional profiles that are necessary for the development of pet tourism.
In this sense, during the development of the case study, a significant lack of training related to pet tourism was identified, both in official programs and in specialized training. This lack of structured training limits the ability of tourism professionals to adequately serve this growing market segment.
Therefore, within this action of the project, a proposal was made for curricular adaptations that would allow the inclusion of specialized training in this field or the development of new curricular itineraries that would allow the training of specialized professionals in this field.
Thanks to the work carried out, Tecnigral has consolidated its position as a strategic partner for tourist destinations with pets.
Results
The work developed allowed:
- To define for the first time a national methodological framework for the analysis of pet tourism in Spain.
- dentify the main challenges and opportunities of the segment: lack of information, regulatory dispersion and the need for greater coordination between destinations.
- Identify the existing training offer related to pet tourism and develop a proposal for the modification of curricular itineraries related to training in the tourism sector or the development of new curricular itineraries that take into account the specific needs and challenges of pet tourism.
- Develop an ad hoc evolution of Pet Tourism that expands the Semantic Reference Conceptual Model of the tourism domain and defines a common language for subject matter experts and future application developers to formulate requirements for information systems.
- Create an interoperable indicator model designed to integrate with the Smart Destination Platform and facilitate data-driven decision making.
- Strengthen public-private collaboration, involving destinations, accommodations and tourism agents in the development of the model.
- To make pet tourism visible as a real opportunity for sustainable development, generating welfare, employment and social cohesion.
One more step towards inclusive and sustainable destinations
The “Tourism with Pets” use case has marked a milestone in the evolution of Spanish tourism, demonstrating that digital innovation can go hand in hand with empathy and sustainability. For Tecnigral, this project reaffirms its commitment to the transformation of destinations into more intelligent, responsible and sensitive environments with the new ways of traveling.
Through advanced analysis methodologies, indicator design and sustainability strategies, Tecnigral consolidates its position as a strategic partner for the development of more connected, inclusive and aware of the link between people, animals and territory tourist destinations.
Quality and Environment Director
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