MADRID – Pipper proves that influencers are not always people. Perhaps unintentionally, Pipper is Spain’s first dog-fluencer. Pipper and his owner want to make tourist attractions in Spain more attractive for families to visit with dogs.
Pipper has been travelling through Spain with his owner Pablo Muñoz for several years. Muñoz set up his travel blog called “Pipper on tour” to raise awareness of the possibilities of travelling with pets. In June 2018 they started travelling around Spain. And since then Pipper has covered around 50,000 kilometres by visiting 90 tourist destinations in Spain.
Pipper the dog became, perhaps unintentionally, the most famous dog-fluencer in tourist Spain.
Pet-friendly travel through Spain
Through the blogs, videos and posts on social media, Pipper and Muñoz have one goal. That is to help families travel with their dog through Spain. They want to show that there are indeed many places in Spain where pets are welcome. And that the term “pet-friendly” is becoming more and more familiar in Spain.
Pet tourism important to Spain
At the same time, Muñoz tells the Spanish news agency EFE that this is not yet the case everywhere in Spain. “I think companies and institutions can do even more to help the tourism industry see the potential of pet tourism. Ignorance plays a major role in this. It is not necessarily about money, but mainly about informing catering owners and museums how they can attract more income by promoting themselves to people with four-legged friends. ”
Pipper and Muñoz not only visit the tourist highlights in Spain, but also meet politicians and companies during their trip to discuss how they can make their city more pet-friendly and therefore more attractive.
Pipper real dog-fluencer in Spain
Still, Muñoz says that the behaviour of the owners is just as important to make this form of tourism possible. Comics such as Pipper y la orden secreta (Pipper and the secret order) and Pipper y el enigma de los perros desaparecidos (Pipper and the mystery of the disappeared dogs) have emerged from the blogs.
With these comics Muñoz hopes to make people aware of the correct education of dogs, adopting dogs instead of buying dogs from breeders and cleaning up dog poo on the street. This all contributes to greater accessibility for pets in Spanish tourism.
