Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook ( born November 22, 1808 in Melbourne, Derbyshire, England; † July 18, 1892 in Leicester) was a Baptist minister and British tourism pioneer and founder of the travel company of the same name, the Thomas Cook Group. On him the system of packages going back.

Life

Thomas Cook was born into a Baptist family. His parents John and Elizabeth Cook lived in modest circumstances and lived in Melbourne, a town in Derbyshire. Cook's father died when he was three years old. His mother married again in the same year. The school broke Thomas Cook from the age of ten. He helped initially at a greengrocer and then learned as a 14- year-old with a alcoholic uncle as a joiner. As a young adult he gave out Christian tracts and worked from 1828 in addition to his work as a Baptist missionary and preacher. At the same time he was a staunch teetotaler and initiated major events and marches against alcohol abuse.

On July 5, 1841 Cook organized the railway trip of 570 activists of the temperance movement of the nearby Leicester Loughborough at a special price of one shilling per person. The bus ride, a ride 3rd class without seating, in open carriages of the Midland Railway was not organized to make money, but should lead people away from the gin bottle and into the fresh air. " People to people and people to connect with God," was the motto of the lay preacher Thomas Cook. Was included in the price next to the round-trip ride a ham sandwich and a cup of tea. This trip, which can be regarded as a forerunner of the later organized by Cook travel packages, marked the beginning of mass tourism.

This was followed by field trips to Liverpool ( 1845), Scotland (1846 ) and the World Exhibition in London ( 1851). The first trip to mainland Europe took place in 1855. On May 17, 1861 Cook organized a trip for workers by train and boat to Paris. For the first time were in the expenditure on accommodation and meals included in the price. This took vacation packages began. 1866 we traveled through Thomas Cook for the first time to America.

Thomas Cook led in 1869 by the first package holiday. Participants of this trip, which led to Egypt and was directed by him, were British and Americans. In 1872 he organized a 222 -day journey around the world in the 40,000 kilometers were traveled. Cook organized in Luxor, the first cruises on the Nile, which are considered one of the milestones in the history of mass tourism, because they could afford comparatively less affluent for the first time. Besides teaching Cooks companies also state visits to foreign rulers. He founded in 1845 the first travel agency, led a traveler's checks and hotel coupons. The travel company Thomas Cook and Son, founded by him remained until 1928 by the family.

Thomas Cook was married to Marianne Mason. Your marriage resulted in a son, who was born on 13 January 1834.