BRISBANE - 4 October 2013

Aussie pets are well travelled with almost half of us revealing we take our pets on holiday, according to the latest travel survey from leading travel website Wotif.com.

Wotif.com Product Director, Donna Rodios, said out of the 10,779 responses, 91 per cent have a pet and 49.1 per cent said they take their pet on holiday.

"Dogs are by far Australia's most travelled pet, with 90 per cent of respondents taking their pooch on holiday, while 5.5 per cent said they travelled with their cat and other travellers even admitted to taking their bird, rabbit, guinea pig and fish away," Ms Rodios said.

"Almost half the respondents said they go everywhere with their pet and holidays were no exception, with 96.9 per cent of pets travelling by car and only 2.5 per cent flying to their holiday destination.

"Holiday homes were the most popular pet-friendly accommodation choice according to 37.5 per cent of respondents with caravan and camping parks closely following with 35.7 per cent of the vote and only 18.3 per cent of respondents choosing self-catering apartments."

Ms Rodios said one in five pet lovers even went to the extent of smuggling their pet into accommodation which wasn't pet friendly.

"Pet owners revealed going to great lengths to hide their pet in doonas and in bags, with one pet owner admitting to feeling so guilty they snuck out at 2am," she said.

"One of the most unusual cover up stories revealed was a respondent who smuggled two ducks in a cardboard box on a plane as hand luggage and had to sing to cover the quaking.

"Some respondents also thought they left their pets in capable hands when they went on holiday without them but came home to find their pet had been replaced, with stories of pets changing gender to pets changing colour!

"With over 4,000 worldwide pet-friendly accommodation listings on Wotif.com, there's no need to smuggle your pet or leave them behind. So paws and take some time out with your fluffy friend."

Top pet stories: -Ends-

About Wotif.com

Wotif.com sells accommodation online in 69 countries. Our great rates, broad accommodation range, easy-to-use site and 24/7 Customer Service Centre have made us the most popular way for business and leisure travellers in Australia and New Zealand to book accommodation online. Every month our site attracts 6.1 million visits, with customers making over 260,000 bookings.

Wotif.com launched flights in February 2010 and offers a great range of Australian domestic airlines, Trans-Tasman and international flights.

We launched in Brisbane, Australia, in March 2000 and now have offices in New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and the United Kingdom to support our growing international presence. Wotif.com is listed on the ASX, trading under the code WTF.

Kirsty Pilton Consumer PR Manager T: +61 7 3512 9920
Nadine Wardell PR Coordinator T: +61 7 3310 9787
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