Years ago we went to the south of France by coach and almost everyone craned their necks every time we passed a dog, we all missed our dogs so much!
Letting tourists pet my dog (Carbon and previously Brogan) is one of the things I ALWAYS have time for and enjoy. Carbon isn't the people-dog that Brogan was - he only puts up with it until he figures out that they have no treats, then he gets bored and acts like they're not there, which is a little embarrassing. However I have hope and can see him turning into more of a people-dog as he gets older.
But oh, Brogan. That was his favourite thing in the world. He was happy just riding a vaporetto with no destination and sucking people into his orbit, and with the high ratio of tourists there, he was almost guaranteed some dog-starved tourist would fawn over him. Ditto for walking along the Danube here in Regensburg where the cruise ships dock - guaranteed tourist love. Or when he got older, just sitting in the middle of a piazza somewhere in Italy and letting people come to him and take photos with him.
I always said traveling with Brogan was like being George Clooney's assistant: you just sat back and watched the magic happen without anyone taking note of the lowly minder (me) standing off to the side.