Today, if we want to visit anywhere we contact any Travel Agency. That company arranges our travels with very little commission.

It is the matter of today but according to Surbhi Publication, before 168 years ago no one imagined about any travel agency. But an English man Thomas Cook imagined this.

Personal Details

Thomas Cook was born in 22 November 1808, to John and Elizabeth Cook, who lived in the village of Melbourne, Derbyshire.

Beginning  of Travel Agency

Young Thomas was the secretory  of a church. He wanted to call a meeting in Loughborough, where he wanted to explain about the bad effects of wines. Although, People of England used to drink but still the church’s society of Thomas was against to drink wine. For this reason, Thomas wanted a meeting.

It was the year 1841. He was walking in his field and heard a sound of train whistle. He never seen a train before so he was happy and began to jump like a child. From there, he has struck a idea after the train gone and thought why not I called people from nearby places. I will take them by train.

 Thomas find out form where people can come. Then he known that people want to come from a  place name Leicester which is 20 kilo meter away from Loughborough. Then he went to the manager of the railway company and convinced him to run a special train in between Loughborough and Leicester. In that era, people used a horse cart for visiting from one place to another. But that was a painful journey. Also that was costly.

 When Thomas proposed to travel through the train in front of the people of Leicester then they were very happy. Travel by a train was a very humbling experience from them. It was also not easy because the condition of train was not like today. Compartments used to open those days. Seats were very hard. Space was less. People used to sit very closely. Also, steam of the engine were painful. In spite of all these, people were happy. They all enjoyed the journey. They were fed food after the meeting is over. In open space people enjoyed food in moonlight night. After that they went home by train. In this way world’s first travel agency started.

Thereafter Thomas cook arranged more travelling thorough train. He used to go with passengers himself as a guide. As a caretaker, his wife Marianne used to go with him.

Thomas belonged from poor family That’s why he known very well about the economic condition of a simple man. Although Thomas   was a  simple man but he had knowledge of business. Till then the railway was expanded. Therefore Thomas convinced some other railway company for special train to travelling of people. Travelling through train was now cheap gradually. People appreciated Thomas and his wife as a guide and thanked them for easy travelling.

Thomas was happy with success in his business. That’s why he forwarded his business in 1855. He planned to take travelers to other countries.

 First of all, he made a program to go to France with some passengers. When they reached France, a French officer welcomed them and said something. But because they did not know the language, they could not understand. Still they went with officer. The officer took them to the station and put them in a train for Paris. After reaching Paris, travelers saw the famous place there. They ride in beautiful cars, saw various things decorating in shops and ate in hotels. The most important thing is that they met with the emperor of France Napoleon-3. In this way, without knowing the language of France the journey was successful.

After the journey of France, Thomas planned for Germany and Belgium. After that he made a plan for Switzerland. 64 people went on Switzerland.

By 1835, about a million people from different countries had traveled taking advantage of Thomas’s travel agency. Then Thomas made a company named ‘Thomas cook and son.’ Son of Thomas, John also began to work with his father. Although he was only 20, but he was very energetic.

After 1865, Thomas contacted with some hotels to reduce rents. 1200 hotels of Europe reduced the rent of rooms.  Thomas’s company visited Paris on the first package tour. That tour was only for four days. After the success of this journey Thomas planned for America, Europe and Arab countries.

Thomas’s world tour

Brain of Thomas was working fast. Next programme planned for world tour. In that journey, there were 10 people in which were two women.

Thomas’s world tour was famous. The name of his company was famous in all over the world.

Thomas cook produced his first handbook to England the 1840s , later expanding in Europe, Near East and beyond.

Thomas cook, to the retire at the end of 1878. He moved back to Leicester and lived quietly until his death in 1892 .  His company ran and running till now. Thomas’s travel agency is now a biggest travel agency. Its branches are expanding over the world.   

Know about Thomas Cook Travel Agency

Thomas cook Group was British global travel group which was listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is the leading travel services company in the country offering the best services that include Corporate travel, Value Added Services, Foreign Exchange, Leisure travels, E-business, etc.  The Thomas Cook India Group spanning 25 countries across 5 continents, a team of over 8388 and a combined revenue in excess of Rs.6943.3 Crores for the financial year ended March 31, 2020, operates leading B2C and B2b brands.

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