From the temperance movement to a travel empire
The Englishman Thomas Cook (1808-1892) first got involved in organising trips through the fight against the demon drink: In 1841, in order to gather together as large a crowd as possible for a temperance meeting, he negotiated a special train at a special price for the otherwise prohibitively expensive rail journey from Leicester to Loughborough (17 miles). Encouraged by the success of this event, he applied the same idea to pleasure trips which included games, dancing and singing instead of long speeches.
Expansion
Cook gradually extended the range of his trips to include other English rail companies, and in 1845 he opened them up to a wider public. His business then took off: in 1846 he introduced trips to Scotland, in 1851 and 1853 he used the great international exhibitions in London and Dublin to develop his ideas further. Cook ventured onto the Continent for the first time in 1855, and in 1863 came the «First Conducted Tour of Switzerland». After that new destinations were added to the programme almost every year: 1864 Italy, 1865 the USA, 1868 Palestine, 1869 Egypt. Finally, the logical sequel was the first organised round-the-world trip in 1872.