Enterprise Minister Laurence Skelly has extolled the virtues of dog tourism for the island’s economy.

Responding a Tynwald question that let parliamentary wags off the leash to come up with canine puns, Mr Skelly proclaimed: ’We do monitor the increasing trend in dog tourism, or the so-called Hound Pound, as this has been a growing trend and in recent years we have introduced a number of initiatives aimed at encouraging visitors with dogs.’

He said Visit Isle of Man (the government’s tourism agency) was in talks with the Steam Packet over increasing its capacity for carrying dogs and he suggested that others could press home the point via the company’s consultation over its new vessel.

The query came from Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew), who wanted to know whether the government had carried out specific research into the market for visitors with dogs.

Mr Skelly said the department had not carried out specific research but added: ’In 2015 we worked with the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture to encourage that department to lift its restriction on allowing dogs into food premises in order to develop the market and make the island more attractive to visitors who wish to bring their dogs with them on holiday.

’In the same year, Visit Isle of Man introduced the Dogs Welcome Scheme for accommodation providers.’

About 10% of all accommodation available was now dog-friendly.

There were now 37 cafes and restaurants registered with Taste Isle of Man that welcome dogs, he added.

Mr Skelly said: ’We have also included dogs in our Extraordinary Story TV advert as well as features on all our social media platforms and more recently, a targeted advert in Coast Magazine. There is also a dedicated section on the Visit Isle of Man website.’

Environment Minister Geoffrey Boot said that new animal welfare legislation would give the government the ability to regulate the dog day care industry, but that was not likely to happen until 2021.