1. A Short History of British Tourism

2. Medieval Tourism
•
British tourism almost certainly started with themedieval pilgrimage.
•
Although, on thesurface, pilgrimageswereundertaken for religiousreasons, pilgrims
clearly saw theexperienceasaholiday away from their normal lives(theterm holiday
isaderivativeof 'holy day'.
•
Pilgrimswereresponsiblefor theideaof souvenirs, bringing back relicsand
remindersof their tripsto shrines.
•
They wereamongst thefirst to recognisethebenefitsof obtaining credit with foreign
banksand soon realised that cheap transport could beobtained on otherwise
commercial ships(English wineshipsbound for Vigo wereused by medieval pilgrims
heading for Santiago DeCompostelain Spain).
•
Religiouspilgrimagesarestill important to tourism – visitsto placessuch asLourdes
or Knock in Ireland arestill ongoing.
A medieval souvenir pilgrim badge
from AmiensCathedral

3. 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.

4. Spas
During theeighteenth century tourism for health became
extremely important in theBritain with many Spas
offering supposedly health-giving mineral waters. These
wereclaimed to treat all kindsof ailmentsfrom gout and
liver disordersto bronchitis.
•
Bath waseasily themost fashionableresort and likemany
spasit offered cultural rootsdating back to Roman times.
AlongsideBath, Buxton, HarrogateTunbridgeWellsand
several others, boomed during thisperiod. Of course,
peoplevisited theseplacesasmuch for theballsand other
social events, asthey did to "takethewaters'.
•
By thenineteenth century British spaswerefacing stiff
competition from continental health resortssuch as
Karlsbad and eventually thebottom fell out of themarket
and thespasgradually vanished and weresoon to be
replaced with holidaysbesidethesea.
The Roman Baths in Bath, UK

5. TheSeasideHoliday
•
King GeorgeIII instigated thepractiseashe
madefrequent tripsto Weymouth in an
attempt to restorehisfailing health but
Brighton becamethetruehomeof theseaside
holiday when thePrinceRegent (later to
becomeGeorgeIV) set hismistressup in a
housethereand went frequently to bathein
thesea.
•
At thetime, many doctorsextolled the
benefitsof bathing in seawater and such
obviousRoyal support didn't do their cause
any harm at all!
King George IIIbathing in
Weymouth in 1789

6. Industrialisation
•
About thistimetravel becamealot easier and alot more
affordableasBritain becamemoreindustrialised. A growing
number of peoplefound themselveswith disposableincomeand
leisuretimein which to spend it.
•
Factory ownersand merchants– thenew "MiddleClass– were
thefirst Britainsto feel ableto travel solely for pleasure.
•
Thefirst dedicated travel company Cox & Kingswereformed in
1758 when Richard Cox wasappointed asregimental agent to
theFoot Guards. Cox & Kingsorganised thepayment, provision,
clothing and travel arrangementsfor membersof thearmed
forcesasthey travelled all over theempire.
•
In the19th century their network of officescontained abanking
and also travel department. Cox & Kingsnow thrivesasan
independent tour company with officesin theUnited Kingdom,
India, theUnited Statesand Japan.
Victoriansenjoying thePyramidsof Giza, Egypt

7. TheBritishAbroad
•
TheBritish originsof thisnew industry are
celebrated in many foreign placenames.
•
At Nice, oneof thefirst and best-established
holiday resortson theFrench Riviera, thelong
esplanadealong theseafront isknown to thisday
asthePromenadedesAnglais; in many other
historic resortsin continental Europe, old well-
established palacehotelshavenamesliketheHotel
Bristol, theHotel Carlton or theHotel Majestic –
reflecting predominantly English customers.
Thisshowstrain timesfrom London to Paris
and Nice

8. Thomas Cook
•
Thefather of modern masstourism wasThomasCook who, on 5 July 1841, organized thefirst
packagetour in history. Hearranged for therail company to chargeoneshilling per person for a
group of 570 temperancecampaignersfrom Leicester to arally in Loughborough, eleven miles
away.
•
The first package tour
•
Cook waspaid ashareof thefaresactually charged to thepassengers, astherailway tickets,
being legal contractsbetween company and passenger, could not havebeen issued at hisown
price.
•
Therehad been railway excursionsbefore, but thisoneincluded entranceto an entertainment held
in privategrounds, rail ticketsand food for thetrain journey.
•
Cook immediately saw thepotential of aconvenient 'off thepeg' holiday product in which
everything wasincluded in onecost. Heorganised packagesinclusiveof accommodation for the
Great Exhibition, and afterwardspioneered packageholidaysin both Britain (particularly in
Scotland) and on theEuropean continent (whereParisand theAlpswerethemost 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 theirwork, and who
could afford the luxury of travel and possibly even staying forperiods of time in
boarding houses.

9. ThomasCook’sfirst trip 1841

10. Act of Parliament – TheBank Holiday
•
TheBank Holiday Act of 1871 introduced astatutory right for workersto takeholidays, even if they werenot
paid at thetime.
•
By thelast quarter of thenineteenth century, thetradition of theworking classholiday had becomefirmly
established in Britain. Thesewerelargely focussed upon theseasideresorts.
•
Thespread of therailway network in thenineteenth century resulted in thegrowth of Britain'sseasidetownsby
bringing them within easy distanceof Britain'surban centres.
•
Walesbecameapopular Victorian destination with seasidehotelsat Llandudno, riversidehotelsat Betwys-y-
Coed and thegloriousspatown of Llandrindod Wellswherealternativetherapiesarestill availableat thetown's
Rock Park Spatreatment roomsoriginally used in Victorian times.
•
Blackpool wascreated by theconstruction of alineto Fleetwood, and someresortswerepromoted by the
railway companiesthemselves– Morecambeby theMidland Railway and Cleethorpesby theGreat Central
Railway.
Morecombe Brighton Llandudno, Wales

11. Southend-on-Sea
•
Thecockneysof London flocked to Southend-on-Sea, mainly by ThamesSteamer, and the
South Coast resortssuch asBroadstairs, Brighton, and Eastbournewereonly atrain rideaway.
•
For acentury, domestic tourism wasthenorm, with foreign travel being reserved for therich
or theculturally curious. A number of inland destinations, such astheEnglish LakeDistrict,
and Snowdoniaappealed to thosewho liked thecountrysideand finescenery.
TheMermaid sailed
down theThamesto
Gravesend and asfar
asSouthend.

13. Holiday Camps
Theholiday camp began to appear in the1930s, but thisphenomenon really expanded in thepost-
war period.
•
Butlinsand Pontinsset thetrend, but thepopularity of their spartan accommodation waned with the
riseof overseaspackagetoursand theincreasing level of comfort demanded by visitors.
•
Towardstheend of the20th century theholiday camp market hasbeen successfully revived by the
upmarket inland resortsowned by Dutch company Center Parcs. Moreholiday companiesarenow
considering thepotential.

14. Masstravel
It isworth noting that low cost masstourism asweknow it today could not begin to develop
until two thingsoccurred:
•
Improvementsin technology allowed thetransport of largenumbersof peoplein ashort
spaceof timeto placesof leisureinterest.
•
Greater numbersof peoplebegan to enjoy thebenefitsof leisuretime.
Other phenomenathat helped develop thetravel industry werepaid holidays:
•
1.5 million manual workersin Britain had paid holidaysby 1925
•
11 million by 1939 (30% of thepopulation in familieswith paid holidays

15. CartographersGuideto Tourism
Check out other mapsfrom around theworld and some of Thailand at :
http://www.theydrawandtravel.com/