Why Attendees Should 'Paws' for a Break: Therapy Dog Event Trend Continues
Puppy breaks at big events are an increasingly popular trend. We saw this first-hand at MPI’s 2019 World Education Congress (WEC) at the Visit Norfolk-sponsored “Paws for a Break” booth, which offered attendees cuddle time with a few experienced therapy dogs.
“We found that people love the break,” said Katie Castano at Visit Norfolk, who explained that the CVB started opening puppy booths at events about eight years ago. The therapy dog booths were a clever way to introduce attendees to the city.
They quickly found the puppy booths to be a welcome break for meeting-goers who are often booked back-to-back at big conventions like WEC.
Castano said puppy breaks can alleviate homesickness, recalling attendees who have told her petting the pups helped them deal with missing their own dogs at home.
Watch the above video to hear Castano talk about more benefits of therapy dogs at events and to meet Kaluha, one of the many cuddly canines onsite in Toronto.
Catch up on the rest of our 2019 WEC coverage via the links below:
