Four Texas cities: Houston, San Antonio,Austin, and Dallas top the list of North America’s most accommodatingcities for travelers with pets.This is based on the number of pet-friendlylodgings included in the latest edition of “Traveling with your Pet: TheAAA PetBook®.”

The AAA PetBook, with more than 13,000 listings ofhotels and other accommodations that allow pets, is a comprehensive travelguide for pet owners.

“Houston is ranked number one as the ‘most-accommodating city’ for pets,not only in the U.S., but in North America,” said Rose Rougeau,spokesperson for AAA Texas, who is based in Houston. Nearly 70 millionU.S. households have at least one pet—a sizeable and lucrative marketsegment for the travel and tourism industry. We’ve seen significant growthin the number of pet-friendly hotels, up 28 percent since 2003, and awidening scope of services, activities and treats for four legged touristsand their human companions,” added Rougeau.

According to the Travel Industry Association (TIA), 29 million travelershave taken a pet with them on a trip in the past three years, and 29%stayed in hotels and motels with their pets. Dogs are the most common typeof pet to take along (78%), with cats a distant second (15%), according tothe TIA. In addition, of the people who said that a hotel’s pet policymade an impact on their decision of where to stay, 35% said it was the mostimportant factor in their decision.

This ranking of cities is based on the number of AAA Approved and Diamondrated pet-friendly hotels. The list also notes pet-friendly AAA Approvedattractions, the number of local dog parks listed on official city Websites and other outside sources, and the number of American Animal HospitalAssociation (AAHA) accredited animal clinics.

AAA Approved and Diamond rated hotels listed in the PetBook guide areinspected annually by AAA’s professional tourism editors to ensure theymaintain acceptable standards for cleanliness and comfort. Privatelyoperated campgrounds are also evaluated by AAA and receive a Level 1, 2, or3 rating based on environmental appeal and facilities. AAA supplemented thedata in the book by including information about animal clinics from AAHA(

), pet-friendly attractions listed in the book and localdog parks listed on each city’s official website and
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