Dog heaven in Devon

Devon is dog heaven for pet-owning families, a major holiday parks company has disclosed. After boning-up on its booking figures, Park Holidays UK says that Devon romps ahead of other counties as the most popular doggie destination.

Parks in the county took the top three places in a tail-count of four-footed guests staying last year at the group's 25 parks across eastern, southern and western England.

Altogether, more than 2000 dogs joined their owners for seaside stays at Dawlish Sands and Golden Sands holiday parks, both in Dawlish, and Waterside holiday park in Paignton.

Just over ten percent of bookings included a dog in the party at the three parks, compared with under three percent at Park Holiday UK's other locations.

Devon's many Fido-friendly beaches, and areas of open countryside such as Dartmoor, helped the county take the lead among dog owners believes Park Holidays UK director Tony Clish.

And this year, he says, Devon could welcome even more dogs at leisure as the company is presently running 15 percent ahead of last March's booking figures:

"Many families hate being separated from their pets when they go away, but a holiday park solves their dog dilemma at a stroke," said Tony.

"There's plenty of room in a caravan holiday home for everyone, and our holiday parks are a great place to exercise a dog on a lead as the grounds are virtually traffic-free.

"Dogs benefit as much as humans from a change of scenery, and owners won't have to fret that their pets are pining for them in expensive boarding kennels far away," added Tony.

Although Devon had the greatest pooch pulling power, said Tony, the group's parks in Dorset, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Hampshire and Suffolk were far from being paw losers.

Parks in these counties accounted for the remaining 2300 dogs accommodated last year.

A small extra charge is made for dogs accompanying guests at Park Holidays UK, and pets are restricted to certain grades of caravan holiday homes to avoid allergy problems, commented Tony.

"There are a few rules just to ensure everyone is safe and happy - but overall, we're delighted that owners think our parks have the bow-wow factor," he said.

More about the group's parks and 2010 holiday bargains - which start from just £69.00 for a three-day break - can be found at: ParkHolidaysUK.com