A generation that skipped having kids found something else to spoil. Dog-friendly trip bookings are up more than 260% in a year.
And the people booking them have money to spend.
DINK stands for "dual income, no kids." One Harris Poll survey calls them the new one percent.
The spending backs that up. About 61% of these couples earn more than $100,000 a year.
They take about 10 vacations a year. They also spend close to double what other travelers do per trip.
These couples hold more wealth too. The median net worth of a couple with no kids is near $399,000.
They spend nearly four times more on eating out than other Americans, and about 88% put their money toward trips and self-growth.
About 76% credit their child-free life for the freedom to spend. More than half of millennials say they would rather have a pet than a child.
Some stay single and go by SINK, which means single income, no kids.
Plenty now use a new label: DINKWAD. It means "dual income, no kids, with a dog."
The dog, in other words, is the kid.
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Travelers are not just bringing the dog along. They are building whole trips around it.
Tripadvisor says bookings for dog-welcome activities climbed more than 260% in a year. It pointed to trips like dog-friendly bike tours and desert trails.
About 69% of younger adults now treat pets as family. So the trip gets planned around the dog, the way it once got planned around the kids.
The travel world noticed. Luxury hotels now add pet spa menus.
One airline, Bark Air, flies dogs in the cabin like first-class flyers. It sells trips built just for dogs and their owners.
Hotels, airlines, and booking apps are all chasing these dollars.
This is not a passing fad. It is a real spending trend.
The global pet travel market could reach about $3.7 billion by 2030, growing close to 10% a year. Pet travel is one of the fastest-growing parts of the trip business.
Some owners already spend more than $10,000 a year on a single dog. The wider pet market is worth well over $100 billion a year.
That money flows into pet-friendly hotels, pet services, and the sites that book them. Trends like this often show up in company earnings long before the headlines.
Three in four millennials would rather spend on experiences than things, and dogs are right at the center of that shift.
That makes pet-friendly brands worth a closer look for investors.
The window may not stay open forever. About 65% of these couples say they plan to have kids one day.
That could shift where the money goes. For now, the dog gets the window seat.
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