🙋Aloha Travel Practitioners.
Welcome to Day 11 of our Travel business mini-training/workshop.
📍For day 11;
we will be considering travel as a business, that is doing travel as a business; offering travel services to the traveling public. At this point, reference to travel business includes both air travel and tourism as part of a travel business.
📍Question:
WHAT IS TRAVEL BUSINESS ?
🎯Answer:
Travel Business implies the process of providing access, and the action of selling travel products, experiences and services to travelers.
Travel businesses sell general one size fits all or custom bespoke (or both) transportation (Airlines tickets, Bus tickets, Coach tickets, Cruise, Boats, Yatchs tickets), access to lodging (Hotels, Resorts, Self-Catering Apartments, Holiday Rental Villas and Apartments, Guest-Houses, Air BnB, Home-stays), meals, entertainment and diverse activities to individuals, couples, families, corporate employees, and groups etc.
Travel businesses would also plan trips and offer advice on destinations and associated relevant information (weather, security, culture, custom policy, immigration rules etc.), budgets, trip itineraries, and perfect travel arrangements for clients.
For the travel business focused on tourism; travel business could be described as the formulation, sale and organization of a part or the whole of a tour program for tourists.
📍Question:
HISTORY OF TRAVEL BUSINESS ?
🎯Answer:
“And because travel was a necessity, so too were basic necessities. Lodging, food and wine needed to be provided to those visiting from other areas”
The history of travel business would also date back to as far as when some opportunities conscious ancient folks realized they could generate income by providing certain amenities to cater to the need of travelers passing through on their locality transit or arriving for a trade or personal visits; short stay or long stay.
Modern day travel business as it is known and regularly being improved on today to allow for more seamless enjoyable memorable travel experiences that meets individuals ideal travel ideas, culture and ideas; dates back to the 20th century.
Reading through previous lessons on this beat, you’d have noticed how strings of the history of travel interwove how travel (including tourism) business started.
PIONEERS OF TRAVEL BUSINESS.
Thomas Cook is regarded as the father of modern day travel business which encompasses all aspects of tourism integrated into travel business.
Thomas Cook pioneered all the common services that travel agencies undertake for travel passengers today: attractions, accommodation, tours, flight timetables, travel tickets, currency exchanges, travel guides.
In 1758, Cox & Kings became the first travel agency in modern history.
In 1840, the Abreu Agency was established in Porto by Bernardo Abreu, becoming the world’s first agency to open its services to the public.
In 1841, Thomas Cook, a Baptist preacher who believed that alcohol was to blame for social problems, reached an agreement with the Midland Railway to organize the transportation of 500 members of his temperance movement from the Leicester Campbell Street railway station to a rally in Loughborough in exchange for a commission.
He formed Thomas Cook & Son, which later became The Thomas Cook Group. The company filed bankruptcy and underwent liquidation in 2019.
In 1871, Dean and Dawson was founded in the United Kingdom and in the 1950s, it was acquired by Thomas Cook.
In 1870, the Polytechnic Touring Association was founded in the United Kingdom.
In 1887, Walter T. Brownell established Brownell Travel, the first travel agency in the United States, and led 10 travelers on a European tour setting sail from New York on the SS Devonia.
In 1895, Baldwins Travel was founded by Alfred K Baldwin. Originally a printer, bookbinder and publisher in Tunbridge Wells; Baldwins began selling railway tickets and helping friends to travel to Europe and beyond.
News about his service spreads; and the former printers slowly built a strong side-line in travel at the back of the Baldwins Stationery shop at 27 Grosvenor Road.
In 1905, Nippon Travel Agency became the first travel agency in Japan.
In 1923, after being treated badly by a British travel agency, K. P. Chen formed what became the China Travel Service, the first travel agency in China.
In 1929, Intourist was formed as the official state travel agency of the Soviet Union, with the goal of convincing outsiders to visit the country.
Originally, travel agencies largely catered to middle and upper-class customers but they became more commonplace with the development of commercial aviation.
The industry suffered during World War II. However, the Post–World War II economic expansion in mass-market package tours resulted in the proliferation of travel agencies catering to the working class.
During the Cold War, travel agents were used by people from Western countries to travel behind the Iron Curtain.
In 1951, the precursor to Helloworld Travel became one of the first travel agencies in Australia.
In 1955, Henderson Travel Service became the first black-owned travel company and the first to take large groups of black tourists to Africa.
In the early 1980s, American Airlines‘ Sabre unit created a direct-to-consumer booking tool for flights, hotels and cars called eAAsySabre.
In 1989, with the liberalization of travel for South Koreans, Mode Tour became the first travel agency in the country.
In 1991, Hotel Reservations Network, the precursor of Hotels.com, was founded.
With the advent of the internet, travel agencies migrated online and underwent disintermediation by the reduction in costs caused by removing layers from the package holiday distribution network.
In 1994, Travelweb.com launched as the first online directory of hotels.
In 1995, Internet Travel Network sold the first airline ticket via the World Wide Web.
In October 1996, Expedia.com, funded with hundreds of millions of dollars by Microsoft launched as the first large online travel agency.
At the same time, Cheapflights started as a listing service for flight deals from consolidators.
In 1998, Lastminute.com was founded in the United Kingdom.
In 1999, European airlines began eliminating or reducing commissions, while Singapore Airlines did so in parts of Asia, and as at 2002, several airlines in the United States had done the same, which led to an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging collusion among the airlines, that was decided on appeal in 2009.
In 2007, the launch of the iPhone and related mobile apps increased travel bookings made online.
In 2008, the launch of Airbnb created an online marketplace for spare bedrooms and apartments.
In 2011, the launch of HotelTonight highlighted instantaneous same-day hotel room booking.
In 2021, travel agency Baldwins Travel Group, which was founded in 1895 was bought by business group Inc & Co.
Some other notable Icons:
- Cesar Ritz
- Ellsworth Milton Statler
- Conrad Hilton
- Thomas Cook
- Willard Marriott
- Isadore Sharp
- Richard Branson
- Albert Ballin
- Kate Hanni
- Susan Harmsworth
Let’s Celebrate our own!
Major Contributors to Air Travel Business Development, Growth and Expansion in Nigeria.
PS: this is not an all-inclusive nor conclusive mention of pioneers, and major contributors, hence should we omit any individual (s) worthy to be addressed an Icon of the Airline, Travel, Tourism sectors of the Aviation industry given their sacrifices, contribution and advocacy etc in these sectors; kindly mention their names.
- Gabriel Olowo
- Olufemi Adefope
- Adedayo Rilwan Adeola
- Michael Ibru
- Alhaji Muhammadu Adamu Dankabo
- Capt Edward Boyo
- Joseph Arumemi Ikhide
- Mallam Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina
- Kayode Odukoya
- Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal
- Allen Onyema
- Valentine Tongo
- Isaac Balami
- Babawande Afolabi
- Adekunle Soname
- Bankole Bernard
- Uloma Egbuna
END.