... Government-imposed limits in post-war Britain on the amount you could spend on your overseas holiday; customers queuing outside travel agencies from 5am to book their summer getaway; and the early days of Club 18-30 when shy youths turned up at the airport in heavy pullovers, sent away by their parents to toughen up.
These are certainly all things I learnt within the pages of Let’s Go – a new book about the history of package holidays and escorted tours by TTG’s longest-standing freelance journalist, Dave Richardson.
It’s fascinating to read about the rise of brands that have gone the distance, like Thomas Cook, celebrating 175 years this year, and market leaders Thomson, as well as brands which suffered spectacular failures like Fiesta, Clarksons and ILG.
But alongside the nostalgic and sometimes hair-raising anecdotes about tour operating in the early days, the book conveys an important message.
Lessons learnt the hard way over the years have led to increased responsibilities for tour operators, meaning UK holidaymakers on a package tour are more accurately informed, better cared for, and more financially protected in 2016 than they have ever been.
Whether or not consumers really value this is another matter: the ONS statistics we reported on last week show the number of holidays booked as packages by Brits is not growing as fast as those self-packaged by consumers.
And yet even last year, 16.7 million holidays were booked as inclusive packages, still making up 40% of the market.
The way package operators operate today, and the products they sell, may be unrecognisable from the 1950s, but it’s good to hear the author of Let’s Go conclude there is plenty of life left in package holidays yet.
Find more on the book, and photos from its launch, including a chance to win your own copy, in the pages of this week’s Travel Trade Gazette.
Agents might be particularly amused to read about the travel agent who in the 1960s once spent 21 days continuously dialing to get through to a major tour operator. Some things never change…
Pippa Jacks
Editor, TTG
