Unit - 1 History of Travel Agency and Tour Operation
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Travel Agency and Tour Operation ETS-103 UNIT - 1 HISTORY OF TRAVEL AGENCY AND TOUR OPERATION Structure: 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Evolution of Travel Agency 1.3 Early Stage of Travel Agency Business 1.4 Landmark Period 1.5 Period of Innovation 1.6 Intra-Continental Tour 1.7 Intercontinental Tour 1.7.1 Second Generation Thomas Cook Business 1.7.2 The Great Episode of John Mason Cook 1.7.3 Merger and Acquisition 1.7.4 Technology Driven Period 1.8 Summary 1.0 Objectives: After reading this unit, you will be able to: Discuss the evolution of travel agency business in the world; Explain the contribution of Thomas Cook to the growth of world travel agency business; Describe the comprehensive overview of the contemporary travel practices since Thomas Cook travel agency; and Explain the various stages and turning points in the history of global travel agency business. 1.1 Introduction: The business of travel agency has witnessed a buoyant growth in the recent years. This upbeat sector provides enormous income and employment opportunities and 1 offers complete travel solutions to the new age travelers. While making such study on travel agency and its development in different stages can enlighten learners to a great extent in gaining extensive ideas and knowledge. Therefore, it is essential to have an insight of the origin of travel agency business in the world. In this unit we shall study the history of travel agency and the early stages of travel agency business. We shall also discuss the landmark period, period of innovation, intra and intercontinental tour, Second Generation Thomos Cook Business and so on. 1.2 Evolution of Travel Agency: In the beginning, the travel agency business was in a state of experimentation and community help. Gradually, the business grew up in such a scale that competitive travel companies around the world forged into the sophisticated business. The nature of the business was a sort of intermediary role to cater holiday related services to those who were away from home. Travel agencies made all possible efforts to ensure the service quality for enhancing the level of satisfaction. In practice, travel agencies were principally driven by the needs of the customers. It is very strange to see that travel agency business in those periods were run with reasonable investment and used to make reasonable amount of profit amidst certain risks such as confirmation of hotel rooms, security of customers, quality of foods, frontier formalities, political system, ethnic difference, long traveling hours, language, etc. Despite of confronting with all impediments, traveling to places other than the place of own domicile was a status symbol of society that pushed people in Europe to undertake travel. The invention of railways and sophisticated steamship also motivated people to travel because travelers urged for comfort and relaxation in the tour. Thus, Thomas cook’s voluntarism to experiment his noble idea to assist people to reach at their destinations is really a matter of great contribution to the history of travel agency. Several travel simplification mechanisms were successfully experimented and proved to be the best options till today in the travel world. Thomas is credited to have rekindled interests among the people in England to plan holidays in advance. On 9th June 1841, a 32-year old cabinet-maker, evangelists and Baptist book seller named as Thomas Cook walked from his home in Market Harborough to the nearby town of Leicester to attend a temperance meeting. It was a milestone day in the annals of world travel history. Travel Agency and Tour Operation ETS-103 A former Baptist preacher, Thomas Cook was a religious man who had a firm opinion that most Victorian social problem revolved around the consumption of alcohol and that the lives of working people would be greatly improved if those people were refrained from drinking alcohol. They can be better educated. As he walked along the road to Leicester, he later recalled his thoughts, “The thought suddenly flashed across my mind as to the practicability of employing the great powers of railways and locomotion for the furtherance of this social reform”. The introduction of pleasure travel and continental travel round the world by Thomas Cook and other contemporary travel agencies ushered a new horizon in the international tourism. Travel coupled with hotel coupons, circular notes, credit cards, advance reservation of all required services for visitors were some of the travel innovations of those periods. Although, certain modifications have taken place today but the origin of the concept has certain significance in the study of history of travel business in the world. The history of professional travel agency may be traced back to 1841 when Thomas Cook organized his first excursion tour for his own friends to attend a temperance meeting held in Leicester. To make the journey more comfortable and relaxed, he devised a creative method of engaging a special train hired from the British Railway to transfer his friends from Leicester to Loughborough and back to attend a rally. A group of 570 participants were signed of at the rate of one shilling per person for a twenty-two mile round trip. The tour gave birth to the idea of all- inclusive packages. Thomas Cook was so articulate and enterprising that the trip embraced a band to play typical hams, a picnic lunch of hams as well as the afternoon tea for refreshment. During the next three summers, Thomas Cook arranged a series of trips between Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham on behalf of local temperance societies and Sunday schools. Within these limits many thousands of people experienced rail travel for the first time, and Thomas Cook was able to assess his strength to expand the areas of operations within the country. That brief success gave him ample solace to think for deepening his aim and interest to enlarge the scope of travel business in Europe. This turnaround has laid foundation of his future travel business. He later described this period as one of 'enthusiastic philanthropy' since, beyond the printing of posters and handbills; he had no financial interest in any of these early excursions. 3 It may be the grace of almighty to make the coincidence of the existence of the two giant travel companies in the world. The opening up of the American Express, a Travel Agency Company in USA in the year 1841 brought about a significant change in the system of banking transaction. The company was contemporary to Thomas Cook Travel Agency and both in the initial period operated the business in their own continents. In its early years, the American Express was focusing on freight business and gradually penetrated into other areas of travel and financial services. Its largest and most consistent clients were banks. The core business of the company was revolving around the supply and delivery of small parcels like stock certificates, notes, currency and other financial instruments to the banks across the USA. The company was giving considerable priority to small parcels services rather than transporting larger freight. Over the periods, the company shifted to other financial and travel solutions. One of the early travel agencies is Cox & Kings, which has a special distinction of having the longest established travel company in the world. The company was drafted for making travel arrangements for the regiment in India. The company did not have diversified travel business as Thomas Cook used to operate in the beginning period. The notable history of the year of establishment of Cox and Kings started in 1758 when it was appointed as general agents to the regiment of Foot Guards in India under the command of Lord Ligonier. Cox & Kings is the longest established travel company in the world. By 1878, they were agents for most British regiments posted overseas, including the Royal Cavalry, Artillery and Infantry, as well as the Royal Wagon Train and the Household Brigade. The first German Travel agencies in the line of modern travel agencies were known as immigration agencies. These agencies were engaged in booking ship’s passages and sometimes group journeys from a collection point to the point of embarkation. The oldest of such agencies was Reiseburo Rominger in Stuttgart in 1842. This agency subsequently extended its activities to the whole range of travel services in Europe. To make traveling simple for the individual, the concept of tickets for means of transport were introduced and issued by these larger agencies in Europe. Travel Agency and Tour Operation ETS-103 1.3 Early Stage of Travel Agency Business: The successful execution of the tour marked the beginning of the establishment of modern travel agency in the world. In 1845, Thomas Cook conducted the first large scale tour inside England by adding some entertainment activities in the tour package. The objective was to enhance the value of package and create certain appeal. That railway journey to Liverpool from Leicester, Nottingham and Derby was the first trip for making some profit. As long back as 1880s, certain travel companies in Germany were accredited to sell train tickets. However, the railway administrations didn’t make any provision for offering commission to those agents that means those agencies book the train tickets for the passengers for which additional service charges over and above the printed fare of the tickets. In 1910, for instance, a well-organized travel agency in Germany could issue tickets for a round trip on the Lake Victoria and organized a journey from Cairo via Aswan to Khartoum. Hence, the ticket included the cost of the porters and tent age in order to trek to reach at the origin point of the river Nile.