There is a special kind of companionship that shapes the way we travel when a pet joins us. A dog tugging gently toward a hidden forest path, a cat curled up in a sunny spot by a cottage window, a quiet morning walk where the world seems softer simply because we are not walking alone.
Across Europe, more travellers are experiencing journeys this way. Not as a checklist of destinations, but as a slower, more intentional exploration of nature, home-like spaces, and simple moments. Croatia is now stepping into this movement with a new, forward-thinking initiative.
On November 26, 2025, Split will host the country’s first Pet-Friendly Tourism Forum, a national gathering created to explore how travel with pets aligns naturally with sustainability and responsible tourism. The Forum represents a shift in how Croatia thinks about hospitality.
Pet-Friendly Travel: A Surprising Ally of Sustainability
Travelling with pets often invites travellers to slow down. Instead of rushing between crowded attractions, people tend to choose quieter routes, longer stays, and destinations where nature is close and movement feels unhurried.
Families travelling with dogs are drawn to forest paths, mountain trails, seaside boardwalks at dawn, and outdoor cafés where the pace of life is gentler. Many prefer small cottages, agritourism farms, eco-lodges and family-run accommodations where pets can move freely and where the surroundings feel natural and calm.
What makes this type of travel particularly interesting for the future of sustainable tourism is its organic alignment with eco-friendly values. Pet owners often seek green spaces, local communities, handcrafted experiences, and authentic hospitality. They spend more time outdoors, support smaller businesses, and avoid high-impact tourism behaviours. In a very practical sense, travelling with pets nudges people toward more mindful, low-impact choices, which is the essence of sustainable travel.
According to data from Pet Friendly Croatia – a Croatian community of pet travelers, more than 80 percent of pet owners travel with their animals at least once a year. Many of them choose destinations surrounded by nature or properties with gardens, shaded terraces, or peaceful outdoor spaces. Their priorities naturally overlap with the principles of slow movement and regenerative tourism.
A Meaningful Opportunity for Eco-Hosts and Rural Tourism
For eco-conscious hosts, this shift offers a real and attainable opportunity. A fenced garden made of natural materials, a sunny corner where a pet bed fits perfectly, a bowl of fresh water waiting at the entrance, or a welcome note reminding guests how to keep local wildlife safe. These thoughtful, nature-aligned gestures can transform an ordinary stay into something memorable.
Guests who travel with pets tend to form strong emotional connections with the places that welcome them. They return year after year. They recommend those places to friends. They stay longer outside peak season, when nature is quieter and more enjoyable for both humans and animals. And they treat the accommodation with respect, because they want their pets to feel at home.
Sustainable and pet-friendly practices often go hand in hand. Many responsible hosts already use non-toxic cleaning products, rely on natural fabrics, build with local materials, or integrate their accommodations into the surrounding landscape. Extending this approach to include animals, by creating safe outdoor spaces, using eco-conscious pet amenities, or establishing simple guidelines that protect nature, strengthens both ecological integrity and the guest experience.
The Forum in Split: Ideas, Inspiration and a New Kind of Hospitality
The upcoming Forum will bring together tourism boards, accommodation providers, cultural institutions, entrepreneurs and international experts who share a common belief: hospitality can be broader, kinder and more attuned to the rhythms of nature. Throughout the day, participants will explore how pet-friendly practices can support low-impact travel, extend the tourist season, and create meaningful connections between travellers and local communities.
The conversations will move beyond logistics and into the heart of how sustainable tourism can become a form of travel in which people, places and animals coexist gracefully.
Free Participation for All Who Wish to Join
The project is co-funded by Split-Dalmatia County under the Tourism Event Support Programme of County-Level Interest, which ensures that participation in the Forum is free of charge for all interested attendees.
The full programme and registration are available at www.petfriendlyforum.com.
Toward a Kinder, More Connected Future of Travel
Travel with pets reminds us that journeys are not defined only by the landscapes we pass through but by the companionship we bring with us. When destinations and hosts embrace this, tourism becomes more human, more natural and more grounded in care.
With its first Pet-Friendly Tourism Forum, Croatia is not just welcoming travellers with pets, it is opening the door to a tourism future that is slower, gentler and deeply connected to the living world.
