ViaCook - The First Conducted Tour of Switzerland 1863

Improvements in road building, the advent of steam ships and the expansion of the rail network laid the groundwork which enabled the early tourist industry to develop in the 19th century. The protagonists grasped how to exploit the new opportunities and use them for their own ends. One of these was the Englishman Thomas Cook. His First Conducted Tour of Switzerland in 1863 marked the beginning of organised tourism in Switzerland.