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The father of modern mass tourism was Thomas Cook who, on 5 July 1841, organized
the first package tour in history, by chartering a train to take a group of temperance
campaigners from Leicester to a rally in Loughborough, some twenty miles away. Cook
immediately saw the potential for business development in the sector, and became the
world's first tour operator.
He was soon followed by others, with the result that the tourist industry developed
rapidly in early Victorian Britain. Initially it was supported by the growing middle classes,
who had time off from their work, and who could afford the luxury of travel and possibly
even staying for periods of time in boarding houses.
However, the Bank Holiday Act 1871 introduced a statutory right for workers to take
holidays, even if they were not paid at the time. (As an aside, in the UK there is s till no
obligation to pay staff who do not work on public holidays.)
The combination of short holiday periods, travel facilities and distances meant that the
first holiday resorts to develop in Britain were towns on the seaside, situated as close as
possible to the growing industrial conurbations.
For those in the industrial north, there were Blackpool in Lancashire, and Scarborough in
Yorkshire. For those in the Midlands, there were Weston-super-Mare in Somerset and
Skegness in Lincolnshire, for those in London there were Southend-on-Sea, Broadstairs,
Brighton, Eastbourne, and a whole collection of other places.
In travelling to the coast, the population was following in the steps of Royalty. King
George III is widely acknowledged as popularising the seaside holiday, due to his regular
visits to Weymouth when in poor health.
For a century, domestic tourism was the norm, with foreign travel being reserved, as
before, for the rich or the culturally curious. A minority of res orts, such as Bath, Harrogate
and Matlock, emerged inland. After World War II holiday villages s uch as Butlins and
Pontins emerged, but their popularity waned with the rise of package tours and the
increasing comforts to which visitors became accustomed at home. Towards the end of the
20th century the market was revived by the upmarket inland resorts of Dutch company
Centre Parcs.
Other phenomena that helped develop the travel industry were paid holidays:
• 1.5 million manual workers in Britain had paid holidays by 1925
• 11 million by 1939 (30% of the population in families with paid holidays)
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