Travel agents go back to future
One of the most famous names in travel, Thomas Cook, is celebrating the 140th anniversary of the opening of its first shop in 1865 - and it bears remarkable similarities to travel agents of the future.
When the original Thomas Cook store opened in Fleet Street, London, it didn’t sell airline tickets because the aeroplane hadn’t even been invented. The historic achievements of the Wright Brothers were still 38 years away.
Instead, the shop sold rail tickets and excursions, but also had to offer other travel-related products, such as telescopes, field-glasses, luggage and passports, to make ends meet. It even sold accommodation upstairs in a boarding house.
These days, the future of the high street travel agent is in danger, as more people choose to book online. Thomas Cook’s rival, Thomson, has recently announced plans to shut 300 of its 820 agencies and said the others will have to adapt to changing booking patterns.
Agencies that survive the cull will sell the modern equivalent of 19th-century travel products, including pre-holiday keep-fit packages at local gyms, foreign language courses and house-sitting services.
More: telegraph.co.uk
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