A Short History of British Tourism

Medieval Tourism• British tourism almost certainly started with the medieval

pilgrimage.

• Although, on the surface, pilgrimages were undertaken for religious reasons, pilgrims clearly saw the experience as a holiday away from their normal lives (the term holiday is a derivative of 'holy day'.

• Pilgrims were responsible for the idea of souvenirs, bringing back relics and reminders of their trips to shrines.

• They were amongst the first to recognise the benefits of obtaining credit with foreign banks and soon realised that cheap transport could be obtained on otherwise commercial ships (English wine ships bound for Vigo were used by medieval pilgrims heading for Santiago De Compostela in Spain).

• Religious pilgrimages are still important to tourism – visits to places such as Lourdes or Knock in Ireland are still ongoing.

A medieval souvenir pilgrim badge from Amiens Cathedral

The Grand Tour

During the sixteenth century, it became fashionable in England to undertake a Grand Tour.

An extended tour of Europe was seen as an essential educational and cultural experience and many wealthy families sent their children to see the sights of Europe's major cities.

Their experiences are echoed today by the hoards of backpackers and gap-year students eager to know more of the world.

http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/grandtour.htm

SpasDuring the eighteenth century tourism for health

became extremely important in the Britain with many Spas offering supposedly health-giving mineral waters. These were claimed to treat all kinds of ailments from gout and liver disorders to bronchitis.

• Bath was easily the most fashionable resort and like many spas it offered cultural roots dating back to Roman times. Alongside Bath, Buxton, Harrogate Tunbridge Wells and several others, boomed during this period. Of course, people visited these places as much for the balls and other social events, as they did to "take the waters'.

• By the nineteenth century British spas were facing stiff competition from continental health resorts such as Karlsbad and eventually the bottom fell out of the market and the spas gradually vanished and were soon to be replaced with holidays beside the sea.

The Roman Baths in Bath, UK

The Seaside Holiday

• King George III instigated the practise as he made frequent trips to Weymouth in an attempt to restore his failing health but Brighton became the true home of the seaside holiday when the Prince Regent (later to become George IV) set his mistress up in a house there and went frequently to bathe in the sea.

• At the time, many doctors extolled the benefits of bathing in sea water and such obvious Royal support didn't do their cause any harm at all!

King George III bathing in Weymouth in 1789

Industrialisation

• About this time travel became a lot easier and a lot more affordable as Britain became more industrialised. A growing number of people found themselves with disposable income and leisure time in which to spend it.

• Factory owners and merchants – the new "Middle Class – were the first Britains to feel able to travel solely for pleasure.

• The first dedicated travel company Cox & Kings were formed in 1758 when Richard Cox was appointed as regimental agent to the Foot Guards. Cox & Kings organised the payment, provision, clothing and travel arrangements for members of the armed forces as they travelled all over the empire.

• In the 19th century their network of offices contained a banking and also travel department. Cox & Kings now thrives as an independent tour company with offices in the United Kingdom, India, the United States and Japan.

Victorians enjoying the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

The British Abroad

• The British origins of this new industry are celebrated in many foreign place names.

• At Nice, one of the first and best-established holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol, the Hotel Carlton or the Hotel Majestic – reflecting predominantly English customers. This shows train times from London

to Paris and Nice

Thomas Cook• The father of modern mass tourism was Thomas Cook who, on 5 July 1841,

organized the first package tour in history. He arranged for the rail company to charge one shilling per person for a group of 570 temperance campaigners from Leicester to a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles away.

• The first package tour

• Cook was paid a share of the fares actually charged to the passengers, as the railway tickets, being legal contracts between company and passenger, could not have been issued at his own price.

• There had been railway excursions before, but this one included entrance to an entertainment held in private grounds, rail tickets and food for the train journey.

• Cook immediately saw the potential of a convenient 'off the peg' holiday product in which everything was included in one cost. He organised packages inclusive of accommodation for the Great Exhibition, and afterwards pioneered package holidays in both Britain (particularly in Scotland) and on the European continent (where Paris and the Alps were the most popular destinations).

• The tourist industry developed rapidly in late 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.

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/oct/30/top-10-victorian-travel-destinations

Thomas Cook’s first trip 1841

Act of Parliament – The Bank Holiday• The Bank Holiday Act of 1871 introduced a statutory right for workers to take holidays,

even if they were not paid at the time.

• By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the tradition of the working class holiday had become firmly established in Britain. These were largely focussed upon the seaside resorts.

• The spread of the railway network in the nineteenth century resulted in the growth of Britain's seaside towns by bringing them within easy distance of Britain's urban centres.

• Wales became a popular Victorian destination with seaside hotels at Llandudno, riverside hotels at Betwys-y-Coed and the glorious spa town of Llandrindod Wells where alternative therapies are still available at the town's Rock Park Spa treatment rooms originally used in Victorian times.

• Blackpool was created by the construction of a line to Fleetwood, and some resorts were promoted by the railway companies themselves – Morecambe by the Midland Railway and Cleethorpes by the Great Central Railway.Morecombe Brighton Llandudno,

Wales

Southend-on-Sea

• The cockneys of London flocked to Southend-on-Sea, mainly by Thames Steamer, and the South Coast resorts such as Broadstairs, Brighton, and Eastbourne were only a train ride away.

• For a century, domestic tourism was the norm, with foreign travel being reserved for the rich or the culturally curious. A number of inland destinations, such as the English Lake District, and Snowdonia appealed to those who liked the countryside and fine scenery.

The Mermaid sailed down the Thames to Gravesend and as far as Southend.

Holiday CampsThe holiday camp began to appear in the 1930s, but this phenomenon really

expanded in the post-war period.

• Butlins and Pontins set the trend, but the popularity of their spartan accommodation waned with the rise of overseas package tours and the increasing level of comfort demanded by visitors.

• Towards the end of the 20th century the holiday camp market has been successfully revived by the upmarket inland resorts owned by Dutch company Center Parcs. More holiday companies are now considering the potential.

Mass travelIt is worth noting that low cost mass tourism as we know it today could

not begin to develop until two things occurred:

• Improvements in technology allowed the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest.

• Greater numbers of people began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.

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

Cartographers Guide to Tourism

Check out other maps from around the world and some of Thailand at : http://www.theydrawandtravel.com/