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CALTRAVEL / MEMBER SPOTLIGHT / OCTOBER 2022
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An Interview with Dave & Roxanne Kendrick, Co-Founders of DogTrekker.com
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BY SHANNON BROOKS, PRINCIPAL AT FORWØRD
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Dave and Roxanne Kendrick, co-founders of DogTrekker.com and longtime CalTravel members, have built a very successful and philanthropic platform to connect dog owners with pet-friendly travel destinations and experiences in the Golden State—simultaneously supporting dog rescue and adoption agencies throughout California. If you’ve attended a CalTravel Board Meeting or Summit in the past decade, chances are you’ve met (and pet!) one of their “Director of Barketing” Labrador Retrievers. In conjunction with the 10th anniversary of their digital debut, the Kendricks recently launched a completely revamped version of their comprehensive website.
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Prior to DogTrekker.com, Roxanne enjoyed a successful career in Bay Area radio sales and established herself as a fitness guru and Dave launched and managed award-winning radio stations and sports franchise broadcasts. While juggling busy careers in San Francisco, they both got very involved with non-profit organizations that focused on saving and protecting the most vulnerable members of their community—people and pups alike.
Their combined media and marketing expertise also extends to the travel industry. Before getting into radio sales, Roxanne explored the world as a Pan Am flight attendant. In the mid-2000s, Dave formed Innovative Radio Solutions in partnership with ABC/Disney and other California broadcasters. They offered a suite of marketing and public relations services to assist newly formed TBIDs as they built their internal teams. The resulting digital, video, and storytelling campaigns earned multiple HSMAI Adrian Awards and they continue to work with DMOs in this capacity today.
Read on to learn more about the Kendricks, DogTrekker, and the positive “paw prints” the couple have made on California’s travel industry.
How did the DogTrekker media platform come to be?
After studying and learning a great deal about the travel and tourism industry from mentors and clients in CalTravel and other travel organizations and associations, we realized that dog-friendly travel was an entire destination driver that was being overlooked. This billion-dollar industry segment keeps vacation and travel dollars within California, supporting gateway cities and rural counties and regions alike.
The original concept developed in 2010 was to launch DogTrekker.com featuring dog-friendly trails, beaches, and hikes in the San Francisco Bay area, with all sales proceeds going to local senior dog rescue organizations. We hoped to save 5,000 dogs from being euthanized. A dozen years later, the site boasts 10,000 listings in over 100 categories, plus over 2,500 travel, animal welfare, and veterinarian stories.
As of July 1, 2022, we have passed the 500,000 mark of outbound handoffs from DogTrekker rescue/adoption content to rescue organizations up and down the state! These half million outbound links come from the website and mobile app, but do not take into account connections and assists from ten years of blogs, more than 100 adoptathon sponsorships, or efforts to relocate animals from shelters in fire areas to make room for new dogs and cats impacted by fires. Then there are the personal connections the founders have made while walking, hiking, swimming and traveling throughout California.
We have never taken a salary or distribution, ensuring the travel, rescue, and sustainability pillars of our mission are properly funded and supported. We are very proud of the half million outbound handoffs from DogTrekker rescue content that have gone to hundreds of California animal welfare organizations.
How has dog-friendly travel evolved or changed since you first launched DogTrekker in 2010?
Decades ago, “dog-friendly travel” was a smoking room at the back of a motel, if you were lucky. Today, luxury, mid-range, and budget hotels and motels compete for this audience, offering amenities that go way beyond the traditional water bowls and waste bags.
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These include impeccable dog-passionate service for both dogs and their humans; amenities such as gourmet treats, doggie massage, canoe rides, pet-friendly wine receptions, and local dog-friendly guides (many written and distributed by DogTrekker); pet sitting, walking, and grooming services; and even a goldfish delivered to the room to keep the dog company.
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Reflecting upon the 10-year anniversary of DogTrekker.com, are there any reflections or key learnings you’d like to share?
As we discussed in our 2022 Joy of Travel newsletter, the number one takeaway is that dog travel opens up an entire world of socialization for your dog, learning about the best “local” places to take your dog in a destination. And for the dog parents, making memories and meeting new friends. Whether at a trailhead, on a winery or restaurant patio or in a hotel lobby, you will meet wonderful people with common interests. The other key reflection is just how many travelers we come across who say, “I didn’t know [destination, hotel, restaurant or winery] was so dog-friendly! We should have brought our pup.” Of course, we carry and pass out cards and brochures everywhere we travel. And we have become local dog-friendly docents in every partner destination in California.
What inspired you to launch your sustainability initiative, Leave Only Paw Prints?
In April 2011, a few days before Earth Day and prior to the launch of DogTrekker.com, we published one of our first dog-friendly travel e-newsletters. Titled “Leave Only Pawprints,” it featured LEED-certified, dog-friendly hotel properties in Napa County, Marin County, and Lake Tahoe, along with environmentally friendly dog products. The response to that first email was strong and DogTrekker’s sustainability and stewardship initiative was born.
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Over the past decade, we’ve integrated Leave Only Paw Prints values into DogTrekker stories about partner destinations, hiking and beach round ups, park and open space district listings, and “how-to-travel-lightly” guidelines across our channels. Notably, in a 2020 survey of the DogTrekker audience, 98% of readers committed to pack in/pack out and 95% agreed to leash up when visiting environmentally sensitive areas. These numbers are significantly higher than a California Parks survey we conducted in 2014.
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We are also excited to share that, recently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded DogTrekker with registration in multiple categories related to Leave Only Paw Prints, and we’ve built a beta site and will officially launch in October.
Looking to the future, are there any trends you predict for the evolution of dog-friendly travel in California?
It is clear that dog-friendly travel is here to stay. As more and more households acquire a dog, hopefully from a shelter, they will need to know where the best safe and tail-waggin’ destinations are and when and how to go. Access for dog parents will continue to grow, as more and more hotels, motels, camping, glamping, cabins, and other properties come online and feature “dog-friendly” amenities. Then, of course, the local restaurants, wineries, attractions, activities, and dog-friendly communities will benefit from more overnight stays.
How can California hospitality businesses and destinations get involved and leverage dog-friendly travel opportunities?
The best way for a DMO, chamber, association, attraction or other industry category to leverage their dog-friendly assets is to reach out to Dave Kendrick (dave@dogtrekker.com) for a no-obligation review of their destination, website, channels, and competition. From there, we can discuss potential partnerships.
What advice would you give to aspiring media or hospitality entrepreneurs?
Travel and tourism includes a broad and exciting range of career choices. Many of the California State Universities offer a degree in hospitality and tourism, as do major universities. CalTravel is dedicated to providing education and growing interest in hospitality careers through its Scholarship Committee and the recently announced “Where Can Travel Take You” campaign.
Over the years, DogTrekker has worked with college tourism and hospitality students through internships and various research projects. Covid impacted our organization a great deal, as the majority of our revenues come from destination marketing organizations. With that said, as destinations re-open to tourism, we will be expanding our teams and there will be additional opportunities with us as well. We encourage anyone interested in the dog-friendly travel space to reach out to Dave at dave@dogtrekker.com or Roxanne at roxanne@dogtrekker.com.
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Have a suggestion for a future Member Spotlight? Submit it to barb@caltravel.org
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By Shannon Brooks, Principal at FORWØRD
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