At the beginning of the Victorian era, a visionary man invented an industry built around discovery, adventure, the mixing of cultures and, above all, dreams. Thomas Cook is regarded as the world’s first tour operator, orchestrating a group holiday as early as 1841. Portrait.
Nothing could have foreshadowed such a destiny. Born in Melbourne in the United Kingdom in 1808, little Thomas Cook began working in a market at the age of 10, before working in a cabinetmaker’s workshop until he was in his twenties while helping his mother in her shop. In 1841, at the age of 33 and a former evangelist missionary, he organised his very first trip from Leicester to Loughborough, a distance of around 20 kilometres, on the occasion of an anti-alcohol conference. Alcohol was a veritable scourge in the United Kingdom at the time. Thomas Cook managed to persuade the Midland Railway to charter a train for the event, asking the 570 people to pay for a ticket that included the journey and a meal. Without any experience, without even really knowing it, Thomas Cook had orchestrated the very first group trip and launched an unprecedented tourist empire.
More and more destinations
Building on this success, he planned an excursion to Liverpool for 1,200 customers in 1845. They were entitled to several stops in Wales, to visit the region’s castles and mountains. As an added bonus, Thomas Cook published a travel brochure with important directions and itinerary information. It’s a first!
In the same spirit, the entrepreneur launched the first travel magazine, The Excursionist, in 1851. Four years later, a hotel was even built under his aegis in Leicester.
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Featured photo : © DR
