The History of Guiding

The first tour operator went into business in England in 1758, and is still in business today. In
Europe, pleasure travel started in earnest during the 1840s, when Thomas Cook began
conducting tours to Paris and later around Europe. By the 1850s, railroad tours were already in
operation. Modern tour operators companies that organize group tours and independent travel
packages date back to the mid-nineteenth century, and most likely have their roots as ticket
agents for steamship lines and railroads. In addition to selling passage, the agents were
eventually called upon to develop itineraries and secure accommodations for their wealthy
clients. Out of this grew the organized business of selling planned tours to groups of travelers.

Through the 1930s tour wholesaling continued to grow, but that happened slowly, since
comfortable and affordable means of passenger transportation were not widespread, and travel
was costly. The post-World War II period, beginning with the late 1940s and early 1950s,
marked a dramatic turning point for the tour operator industry. The introduction of modern long-
range commercial aircraft and the development of the interstate highway system both opened
long distance travel to millions of middle class travelers. Add to that the growth of low cost
airlines, increased access to airports, and the ability to travel more cheaply, and the travel bug
sent millions of people all over the planet.

The media have popularized aspects of touring and made them appear accessible to the public,
which has helped to increase the number of tour travelers. The television program The Love
Boat inspired middle class travelers to take a cruise. The 1969 film, If its Tuesday, this must
be Belgium, based on Caravan Tours, popularized over-the-road bus travel.

Today there are over 600 tour operators in this country, plus hundreds in other countries. Most of
them wholesale their tours, that is, sell them through travel agents, or sell them directly over the
internet. Even in this day of the internet, where travelers can more readily create their own
itineraries, tour operators still have the advantage of bulk purchases that reduce costs, and of
inside knowledge of vendors and destinations.

Growth of the Tour Industry

The tour industry itself is both old and new. The well-to-do have always been able to travel to
see and experience interesting buildings, works of art, cultures, languages, cuisines, and there
have always been guides there when they arrived to show them the sights. Then, with the
beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the new middle class factory owners, merchants,
traders, attorneys, those who contributed to the new economy at a level different and above those
who actually created the products had both money and leisure time for travel. And the tourism
industry was created.

It was not until the late 1940s, after World War II, that tourism, on the large scale seen today,
began to grow. Mass tourism required the development of a transportation infrastructure, trains,
ships, highways, and most recently, airplanes, capable of moving large numbers of people to
places far away. With that support in place, travel has experienced year-over-year growth,
providing expanded career opportunities in its related industries, contributing an estimated 5% to
the worldwide gross domestic product (UN World Trade Organization).

Travel has created opportunities for employment in a variety of service-oriented industries with
ties to tourism:

Transporation providers (i.e., taxis and airlines)

Entertainment venues (i.e., theme parks)
Hospitality services (i.e., resorts)

Knitting all these service providers together are tour operators, who act as go-betweens for
travelers and vendors alike. The tour operator industry itself has been heavily impacted by the
internet, which increases the ease with which travelers can sign up for tours, and also the ease
with which travelers can create their own custom tours by contacting vendors directly. That
poses a challenge to the tour industry, resulting in even higher standards of excellence. The drive
for excellent experiences constantly raises the bar for those who work in the field, including tour
guides and tour directors.

Adding to this the huge growth is the cruise industry, with around a dozen new cruise ships
coming on line per year, and accompanying demands for workers to make dream vacations come
true.

History of Tourism and Travel Business in the World

in the earliest times, people have travelled on foot to hunt, explore or make pilgrimages. Food,
water, safety or acquisition of resources (trade) were the early travel motivations. The invention
of the wheel and the sail provided new modes of transportation. Each improvement in
technology increased individuals' opportunities to travel. When roads were developed and
railway networks spread across the countries, tourism started to flourish.

In 1822, Robert Smart of Bristol, England, announced himself as the first steamship agent. He
began booking passengers on steamers to various Bristol Channel ports and to Dublin.

In 1841, Thomas Cook began running a special excursion train from

Leicester to Loughborough in England which happened to be a trip of 12
miles. On the 5th of July in 1841, Cooks train carried 570 passengers at
a round-trip with a price of 1 shilling per passenger. This is believed to
be the first publicly advertised excursion train. Thus, Thomas Cook can
rightfully be recognized as the first rail excursion agent. His pioneering
efforts were eventually copied widely in all parts of the World. Cooks
company grew rapidly, providing escorted tours to the Continent and to the United States and
around the World.

But the first specialist in individual inclusive travel (the basic function of travel agencies) was
probably Thomas Bennett (1814 - 1898) who was another Englishman serving as secretary to
the British consul-general in Oslo, Norway. In this position, he frequently arranged individual
scenic tours in Norway for visiting British notables. Finally, in 1850, he set up a business as a
trip organizer and provided individual tourists with itineraries, carriages, provisions and a
travel kit. He routinely made advanced arrangements for horses and hotel rooms for his clients.

Incensement of Tourism Industry

After World War II, the availability of airplanes was the messenger of the start of charter flights.
In the 1970s, the introduction of wide-bodied jets meant that journeys to the USA and the Far
East came with the reach of many people.

Tourism has also expended as peoples leisure time has increased. In the 1700s, leisure time was
available only to the richer people. Indeed, they were sometimes referred to as the Leisure
Classes. At the beginning of the 20th Century, bank holidays were introduced and in the 1930s,
paid holiday time was more widely available. In the second half of the 20th Century, paid
holidays were excepted as a norm and package holidays were within the reach of most people.

People become tourist for variety of reasons. Those reasons were limited at the earlier times but
with the variety of services and thanks to good management thoughts of the professionals, those
reasons increased a lot. Some of them are ;

VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives)

Coastal Tourism
Congress Tourism
Thermal Tourism (AKA SPA & Health Tourism)
Belief / Faith Tourism
Culture Tourism
Mountaineering & Winter Tourism
Hunting
Adventure Tourism

That list could be expended. Also that list entirely point that out, there is big misunderstanding
out there in the world about tourism industry : Tourism is only about leisure holidays.

Travel Companies

Nowadays travel agencies range from very small to very large

businesses. The smaller businesses are very much like any other small
business. Very few people carry out all the business operations, and jobs
include secretarial, travel counseling and managerial activities. In large
offices job opportunities are more varied and include commercial
account specialist, domestic and international travel counselors, research directors and marketing
managers. Of course, the main marketing area of a travel business is the internet in current times.
Thus, large firms are having their own IT departments, even a Social Media Departments
separately from others to handle all the communication between the company and clients. Tour
operators are in need of those kind of departments separately more than travel agencies.