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Thomas Cook

2021 marks the 180th anniversary of Thomas Cook’s first step towards building the package holiday phenomenon. Through Thomas Cook’s belief in temperance and education he grew a travel company so all classes could enjoy the luxury of a holiday…

Shona Parker

2021 marked the 180th anniversary of Thomas Cook’s first step towards building the package holiday phenomenon. But ironically, wealth and social standing was the last thing on Thomas’ mind throughout his varied and illustrious career.

“We carried music with us, and music met us at Loughborough Station … and cheered us all along the line with the heartiest welcome … the whole affair being one which excited extraordinary interest, not only in the county of Leicester but throughout the whole country … All went off in the best style … and thus was struck the keynote of my excursions, and the social idea grew upon me.”

Thus wrote an exuberant Thomas Cook after his first organised day out for working class people of the Temperance Movement on 5th July 1841. A society devoted to encouraging others to give up alcohol and to try education instead, the Temperance members organised meetings, readings and family picnics as an alternative to hours spent in a pub. A member of the movement himself, Thomas decided to try something bigger to spread the word.

A fervent Baptist, Thomas believed in people helping themselves but recognised they could only do this if they were given the education and opportunity. At the same time, he surmised that travel educated a person by broadening their mind and firing the imagination, relaxing people and giving them hope. So he hoped to practise his ideas by arranging for 500 working class people to travel by train from Leicester to Loughborough to visit the Temperance quarterly meeting.

For most of his passengers, this was their first time on a train. Despite travelling Third Class in open air carriages, the whole trip was imbued with a holiday atmosphere, with villagers waving flags at the side of the tracks and Loughborough station decorated with banners, flags and props.

Mr Paget, a local dignitary, opened up his property Southfields for the day-trippers to use. White tablecloths were laid out under the shelter of trees and a typical English picnic of bread and ham and later crumpets and cake was consumed. Family games were arranged, and a cricket match enjoyed before minister after minister made rousing speeches accompanied by the band. It was the biggest teetotal party they had ever seen.

Thomas always wanted to help the poorer people in society as he had encountered his fair share of hardship. His father and stepfather both died when he was young and 10-year-old Thomas was apprenticed to a carpenter, working long hours and spending his free time in church. He grew up wanting a fairer society and a better democracy.

After Thomas married Marianne Mason in 1833, they opened up their home in Leicester to temperance travellers, as local inns were noisy, dirty, expensive and full of drunks. Leicester, like many towns in the north of England, had low life expectancy due to poor sanitation, a lack of freshwater reservoirs, hardly any drainage and an excess of factory pollution in the river Soar. It did a roaring trade in shoes and hosiery so there was the inevitable Victorian slum housing.

According to the Temperance Messenger magazine, Leicester was also home to 700 spirit shops, beer shops and pubs. It claimed the town had an above average amount of drunkards, prostitutes and cases of alcohol related diseases.

Fired up by the success of his first trip, Thomas set to organising more cheap Temperance days out for the working classes, volunteering his time and his own money to ensure success. Trips to Derby, Birmingham and Nottingham ensued, all underpinned by Thomas’ belief in feeding the soul with education and relaxation. In the summer of 1843, he took a crowd of Leicester teetotallers to the peaks of Derbyshire and parts of Yorkshire to breathe uncontaminated air.

Thomas tirelessly promoted his trips by printing and distributing leaflets and posters throughout the town. He gave promotional talks in the local Temperance Hall. In fact, although Thomas’s May Day trip wasn’t the first organised excursion by rail, it was the first to be promoted through the use of print material and proved a resounding success.

Thomas’ help for the working class didn’t stop at organising days out for them to try to forget their worries. He deeply abhorred alcohol and blamed it for the many problems the poor faced during the hungry Forties. He was a voracious anti-Corn Law protestor and orator, damning the use of cereal crops to make alcohol when hundreds of thousands of people were starving across the country.

He also promoted gardening, a new Victorian pastime, and bought potato seeds to distribute among the working class to encourage them to grow their own food. He even started printing a gardening magazine called The Cottage Gardener, covering the basics on how to grow vegetables and cultivate a cottage garden, although the copies no longer exist. He went onto help found the Leicester Allotment Society as another way of helping the poor to be fed but self-sufficient.

All this work came at the expense of Thomas’s own pocket and in August 1846 he filed for bankruptcy. Luckily, this no longer meant the shame and prison sentence it used to, and Thomas held onto his printing works and his home. This did teach him a valuable lesson though: he needed to make a hefty profit to continue helping the poor, and the best way to do this was to organise excursions for the middle classes.

Thomas had already decided to take the plunge in 1845, when he gathered up his courage and advertised his first commercial tour to Liverpool, with the opportunities to climb Mount Snowdon, explore Bangor and sail in a steamboat along the way, all backed up with his printed historical booklets. Despite tickets costing 10-15 shillings each, so clearly aimed at the middle class, demand for this trip far outstripped supply and another was planned a fortnight later. Thomas had found his niche. Cook’s Tours was born.

Although the company went on to become a package holiday phenomenon, Thomas never cared for gentrification. Large houses, country pursuits and members clubs passed him by as he continued to promote cheap travel for the masses.

In fact, he fell out with his son, as John Mason wanted to stop all non-profit making tours, but this went against everything Thomas stood for. He said of his son, “He does not like my mixing of missions with business; but he cannot deprive me of the pleasure I have had in the combination.”

Thomas’ last act of philanthropy was to build a pretty row of 14 memorial cottages and gardens in Melbourne, alongside a Baptist hall, a bakery and a laundry. Four flats were included for visiting Baptist ministers and their families, and a caretaker oversaw the upkeep.

When Thomas died on 18th July 1892, he had just £2731 in his bank.

William Gladstone summed up Thomas Cook in the Leicester Daily Post on the 20th July: “Thousands and thousands of the inhabitants of these islands who never would for a moment have passed beyond its shores have been able to go and return in safety and comfort, and with great enjoyment, great refreshment and great improvement to themselves.”

Written by Shona Parker. I blog about the social history behind the novels studied for GCSE English and drama at www.backinthedayof.co.uk. I include the type of social, political and economical paraphernalia which will pad out your knowledge and understanding, dispel your misgivings and make English history come alive!

Published: May 3rd, 2021.

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Thomas Cook to be revived as online travel firm

• Published 8 September 2020
• comments Comments

The Thomas Cook travel brand is close to being re-launched following the company's spectacular collapse last year that cost thousands of jobs.

However, the new firm will be online-only without the aircraft, hotels and shops of the old business.

The brand's owner, China's Fosun, wants to revive Britain's oldest travel firm within weeks to capture the start of the booking season for next summer.

But exact timing depends on when Thomas Cooks gets a licence to operate.

The 179-year-old company collapsed under a mountain of debt, and sparked the largest ever peacetime repatriation to bring home 150,000 UK holidaymakers from abroad.

Fosun was already a large shareholder in the business, and last November paid £11m for the Thomas Cook trademarks, websites, social media accounts.

A very limited Thomas Cook website is already operating, although it is not selling holidays.

The firm needs an Atol licence from the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority. There are reports this could be granted within days.

Fosun, which owns the Club Med holiday resorts, declined to comment.

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A source said Thomas Cook was "very keen to be up and running by Christmas. It's when people's thoughts turn to summer holidays, and there is likely to be a lot of pent up demand because of this year's coronavirus cancellations."

The timing of Thomas Cook's re-launch will also depend on any further restrictions and quarantine rules on foreign travel because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain had been Thomas Cook's most popular destination.

The travel and tourism industry has been hit hard by a coronavirus collapse in trade. Britain's Hays Travel, which bought the bulk of Thomas Cook's High Street outlets and took on many ex-staff, is cutting almost 900 jobs.

And Tui, Thomas Cook's biggest rival before the collapse, received €1.2bn (£1bn) in aid from the German government.

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Thomas Cook relaunches as online travel agent

Customers can now tailor their own holidays after parent company and Club Med owner Fosun gains Atol licence

Thomas Cook is being resurrected as an online-only travel business, exactly a year after the 178-year-old company ceased trading , stranding 150,000 holidaymakers abroad.

The relaunch comes as the travel industry faces the worst tourism crisis since records began. World Tourism Organisation figures show that international tourist trips dropped by 65% during the first half of the year , an unprecedented drop. But Thomas Cook’s UK chief executive, Alan French, said the company was taking the “long view”.

The new “Covid-ready” website will initially sell holidays to beach resorts and cities in countries on the UK government’s travel corridor list, including Turkey, Italy and some parts of Greece. Further destinations will be added when government restrictions are lifted, alongside more hotels and other types of accommodation.

“We are launching now clearly aware of the short-term challenges posed by the pandemic,” French said. “We know Brits are keen to travel but feel nervous about safety and any changes to government rules on quarantine. We are only selling destinations on the travel corridor list and all the hotels are flexible. We won’t charge customers a fee to change their holidays if government rules change.”

The website features tens of thousands of hotels, as well as flights, transfers, and other add-ons, for customers to tailor trips, which will be protected by Atol, the government-run financial protection scheme operated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The relaunch is backed by Fosun Tourism Group, the Chinese conglomerate that bought the Thomas Cook brand and online assets for £11m in November. Fosun also owns Club Med.

The Thomas Cook Group, which operated 560 high streets branches in the UK and a fleet of aircraft as well as its tour operation business, employed 9,000 people in the UK. The new company employs 50 people, who will work remotely.

The site currently sells single-destination trips by air only but a spokesman said multi-stop trips and other transport options such as train and ferry are “under consideration”.

A spokesman for the new smaller company said: “We won’t have those dedicated buses and reps with clipboards round the pool. But we think people want to design their own holidays now.”

The new company hopes to sell holidays to up to 50,000 passengers a year.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? travel, warned consumers to be cautious when it comes to booking holidays, with some holiday providers failing on their legal obligation to refund customers for cancellations in recent months. .

“While some previous Thomas Cook customers may be pleased to see it relaunching as an online travel agent, the events of the past few months should act as a reminder that just because a brand is a household name it does not mean you can necessarily rely on it to treat you fairly,” he said.

“While package holidays booked through Thomas Cook would be Atol protected, many of the big online travel agents have proven time and time again through the pandemic they aren’t able to offer the same level of protection or customer service as better, traditional tour operators, making it difficult to secure refunds that customers are legally owed for cancelled holidays.”

Meanwhile a group of former Thomas Cook staff are set to launch a separate tour operation business called Sunny Heart Travel, selling beach resorts, cruises and tours from its Peterborough base.

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Simple Flying

The history of thomas cook - 178 years of travel.

The story of a company that changed the world of travel forever.

Thomas Cook was closing in on two centuries of business before its demise in September 2019. After efforts to seek a £200 million bailout failed, Thomas Cook fell into liquidation, ending a business that had operated for 178 years. The failure of Thomas Cook Airlines became the biggest UK airline collapse in history, eclipsing Monarch Airlines, which had gone bust two years prior.

The bankruptcy left over 150,000 passengers stranded worldwide, and up to 600,000 customers had bookings with the airline when it went bust. Let's take a look at the fascinating history of Thomas Cook.

Railways expeditions

The agency's inception dates back to July 1841, with entrepreneur Thomas Cook offering his first excursion. Thomas Cook & Son offered trips to members of the Temperance Society via the Midland Counties Railway. Cook escorted 500 of these members from Leicester to a teetotal rally ten miles north in the nearby town of Loughborough.

Even though the trip may have been short, it would have been the first time many of these travelers entered a train. Therefore, the 500 paid one shilling and sixpence each, which is around £7.00 (adjusted for inflation) for the return trip.

The Derbyshire native soon offered excursions across the counties with a service from Leicester to the vibrant city of Liverpool in 1845. Soon after, Cook used his decade of experience to lead tours of Wales, Ireland and Scotland in 1851. These feats attracted investment from important national figures who wanted to use Cook's services.

Cook was therefore persuaded to use his setup to bring workers from the Midlands and Yorkshire for the Great Exhibition in the UK during 1851. By the time this London event was finished, Cook had taken 150,000 people across the country.

International adventures

This success gave Cook the confidence to expand internationally, combining various forms of transport. From the mid-1850s, Cook's business serviced routes across the English Channel from Essex to the Belgian city of Antwerp. This gave way to a circular tour that included the European cities of Brussels, Cologne, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Strasbourg and Paris - Cook's twist on the 'Grand Tour' opened up travel to social classes below the nobility.

Subsequently, the birth of two key aspects of modern tourism was seen following these tours. The first was the 1868 introduction of the hotel coupon, which helped customers pay for their hotel and meals. The second was the 1874 creation of the circular note, which was an early form of the traveler's cheque.

Thereafter, Cook further expanded on his international growth to venture across the Atlantic - a network of North American tours, covering 4,000 miles of railways was set up from 1865. Along with this, Cook set up systems in Egypt with steamers he hired to travel up the river Nile. These milestones were followed by annual world tours using Cook's experienced network and systems.

Ownership changes

Thomas Cook passed away in 1892, leaving John Mason Cook to take the reins of his father's operations. The businessman continued to grow the company from its two offices in Leicester and London before passing away seven years later. The firm was then taken on by Thomas' grandsons until their decision to retire in 1928. Ernest and Frank Cook sold the business to its first outside owners.

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At this time, Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits became the proud owners of Thomas Cook. The French company were famed for their ambitious operations with the Orient Express and were looking to expand their presence.

The firm was sold to Hays Wharf Cartage Company during World War II - however, after the war, the company was nationalized in 1948 to become part of the British Transport Commission. The boom of commercial aviation in the post-war years benefited Thomas Cook, with the firm profiting £1 million in 1965.

After nearly three decades, Thomas Cook was again privatized after surviving the 1970s recession. The group used its expertise in package holidays to ensure safety during a time when many travel firms collapsed. Midland Bank became the sole owner of the business in 1977 and the firm vastly improved customer relations. Proposals such as the launch of the 1974 Money Back Guarantee scheme helped enhance customer service and increased reliability in the years to come.

Entering the modern era

Thomas Cook was then sold to German bank, Westdeutsche Landesbank and charter airline LTU Group for £200 million in 1992. It was during this period that Thomas Cook Group set up its own airline - initially named JMC - in 1999. This ownership lasted only nine years as Thomas Cook was again sold in 2001, this time to German company, C&N Touristic AG, and its airline branch was rebranded to Thomas Cook Airlines in 2003. In 2007, this business merged with MyTravel Group to form Thomas Cook Group plc.

Unfortunately, the travel group soon began racking up more debt - in 2011, its debts exceeded £1 billion and the airline survived by the skin of its teeth with an emergency cash injection. However, mounting interest payments and changes in the holiday industry made things increasingly tough for Thomas Cook. Travelers were also increasingly booking online - making Thomas Cook's 500+ high street outlets slowly redundant - and opting for city breaks over Cook's typical beach package getaways.

By 2019 - the year it would go bankrupt - Thomas Cook's debts had reached around £1.7 billion, and it had paid over £1 billion in interest to lenders over the preceding decade. It desperately sought funding to stay afloat but was unable to secure the £200 million it needed. Then, on September 23, 2019, the old powerhouse finally ceased trading after 178 years.

Check out our analysis on what went wrong at Thomas Cook .

The Thomas Cook legacy

Thomas Cook's mark can be seen all over the world today. The company pioneered package holidays with unique incentives from the beginning. The firm also continued to revolutionize the travel industry by utilizing the ever-changing modes of transport over the years. The package holiday model is still enjoying a boon in the UK, as seen in the success of Jet2.com, now the UK's third-largest airline.

After 178 years of providing travel services across the globe, Thomas Cook's legacy won't be forgotten. As for its fleet , Thomas Cook had 34 aircraft in its possession when it collapsed - 27 Airbus A321s and seven A330s. The majority of these planes were returned to their lessors and found new homes, now flying with a diverse range of carriers like Vietjet, Air Transat and S7 Airlines. A few would end up on the scrap heap, including three A330s abandoned at Manchester Airport which were deemed "unsellable".

Did you use to fly with Thomas Cook? Do you wish the airline would have stayed afloat? Let us know in the comment section.

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What to do with Thomas Cook traveller’s cheques

I have had some Thomas Cook traveller’s cheques in sterling for many years that I kept for emergency use abroad. Are they of any value?

I also have some other American Express traveller’s cheques. Is there any advantage in keeping them or should I cash them in? Martin Bellman, London

Martin is not the only person who has contacted The Times since the collapse of Thomas Cook to ask if their traveller’s cheques are still worth the paper they are printed on. It seems that the demise of the world’s oldest tour operator jogged quite a few readers’ minds that stuffed in the back of the sock drawer they still have a clutch of these old travel essentials.

I must admit I was slightly surprised by this, naively believing that traveller’s cheques would have been consigned to history. Thomas Cook, a cabinet maker and former Baptist preacher, was a pioneer of the traveller cheque. His story begins in July 1841 when he chartered a train to take Temperance supporters 12 miles from Leicester to a meeting in Loughborough.

In 1855 Cook went international, organising trips to Europe and then North America, and in 1874 launched the “circular note”, the precursor of traveller’s cheques, which could be cashed overseas for local currency. In 1994 Thomas Cook acquired Interpayment Services Limited, a subsidiary of Barclays bank, to become the largest supplier of traveller’s cheques outside the US.

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The demise of Thomas Cook travel agency on the high street and in the skies has not killed traveller’s cheques. Travelex, which bought Thomas Cook’s travel money business in 2000, will still accept the cheques, albeit for a 5 per cent fee. I would recommend cashing them in, along with any others you might have knocking about, and treat yourself to a night out.

The hundreds of thousands of customers with advance Thomas Cook bookings that were automatically cancelled on September 23, when the company went into liquidation, and that are Atol protected can begin claiming for full refunds from Monday.

The Civil Aviation Authority has an online form that will go live when the claims process begins. Follow instructions at thomascook.caa.co.uk , under the section headed Customers yet to travel out of the UK.

Beware scammers who are trying to defraud Thomas Cook customers. Go direct to the CAA website and do not engage with third parties that claim they will help with a refund. If you have trouble, call the CAA on 0300 303 2800. If you have a travel question you would like answered email [email protected]

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Tips on how to send money from India to UK

Table of contents.

Are you planning to send money from India to the UK for work or personal reasons? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Transferring money across borders can be a complicated process, but with our comprehensive guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to transfer money from India to the UK with ease. From understanding the basics of sending money to comparing different money transfer services, we’ll give you tips and tricks that will make your transfer experience a breeze. So, whether you’re sending money to family or paying for business expenses, let’s get started on making your money transfer from India to the UK as smooth as possible.

Understanding the Basics of Sending Money from India to the UK:

Before you begin the transfer process for sending money to the UK, it’s essential to understand the legal requirements and regulations that need to be followed. You must know the difference between INR and GBP, and the different methods available to transfer funds.

• Legal Requirements and Regulations: Follow RBI and FCA guidelines and check transfer limits when sending money from India to the UK.
• Know the Difference between INR and GBP : Exchange rates can impact the transfer amount, so keep an eye on rates and choose the right time to transfer.
• Different Methods Available to Transfer Funds: Compare bank transfers and online money transfer services to find the right fit for your needs and budget.
• Required Information for the Transfer: Double-check beneficiary bank account details, bank name, and SWIFT code before initiating the transfer of money from India to the UK.
• Transaction Fees and Exchange Rates : Compare fees and exchange rates to ensure a good deal. This is applicable for sending money to the UK as well as sending money from the UK to India.
• Transfer Speed: Consider the urgency and time sensitivity of the transfer when choosing a method to send money from India.

Popular Methods for Sending Money from India to the UK:

There are several popular methods for sending money from India to the UK. Some of the most popular methods include bank transfers, online money transfer companies, foreign currency demand drafts, and international money orders.

• Bank Transfers: Bank transfers are a common way of sending money from India to the UK. They are secure and reliable, but they can be time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, banks may charge a fee for the transfer, and the exchange rate may not be favorable.
• Online Money Transfer Companies: Online money transfer companies are convenient and quick, and they often offer competitive exchange rates. Many of these companies allow you to transfer money from India to the UK using a mobile app or website. However, they may charge higher fees compared to bank transfers.
• Foreign Currency Demand Drafts: A foreign currency demand draft is a check issued in a foreign currency. It can be deposited into the beneficiary’s bank account in the UK. This method is useful if the beneficiary does not have a bank account or if the bank is not located in the same city or town.
• International Money Orders: International money orders are another way to transfer money from India to the UK. They are similar to foreign currency demand drafts but are issued by post offices. They are relatively secure and can be tracked, but they may not be as quick or convenient as other methods.
• Other Options: Other options for sending money from India to the UK include using a credit or debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin. These methods may not be as common as the ones mentioned earlier, but they can be useful if the beneficiary prefers these methods or if they are unavailable in their area.

Tips for a Smooth Money Transfer Experience:

To ensure a smooth and hassle-free experience, here are some tips to consider when transferring money to the UK whether to a loved one or making a business transaction.

• Research your options: As mentioned earlier, it’s essential to research your options when it comes to choosing a money transfer service for sending money to the UK. By using a trusted and established name in the industry like Thomas Cook, you can benefit from competitive exchange rates, low fees, and fast transfer times.
• Choose the right transfer method: Thomas Cook offers multiple transfer options, including wire transfers and online transfers, providing you with the flexibility to choose the most convenient option for transferring money from India to the UK.
• Check the exchange rate: Always check the exchange rate before sending your money. With Thomas Cook’s real-time exchange rates, you can be sure you’re getting a fair deal.
• Confirm the recipient’s details: Double-check that you have the correct recipient details, including their full name and account number. This will help ensure your money goes to the right person.
• Consider using a specialist currency exchange service: If you need to convert your money into pounds before sending it, using a specialist currency exchange service like the one offered by Thomas Cook can save you money on exchange rates while ensuring a smooth and hassle-free process for sending money to the UK.

By following these tips and choosing a reliable money transfer service like Thomas Cook, you can send your money to the UK with confidence, knowing that your funds are in good hands.

In a world where distance is just a number, transferring money from India to the UK has never been more accessible. And with the help of trusted and reliable money transfer services like Thomas Cook, you can now send money with confidence and ease.

So, don’t let the transfer process hold you back, whether it’s for a loved one’s education, your dream vacation, or a business transaction. By understanding the legal requirements and regulations, comparing the different money transfer services, and following some basic tips, you can ensure a smooth and hassle-free transfer.

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Balancing Mind and Body Wellness Retreats in India

Dubai’s Skyline Secrets: Exploring the City’s Most Iconic Structures

Know All About Amritsar’s Golden Temple and Fields of Gold

Explore the Rich Flavors of Gujarat’s Culinary Heritage with a Taste of Gujarat’s Delectable Dishes

Top 10 Best Places to Visit in January in India

Ayodhya Ram Temple: Uttar Pradesh

Ayodhya Ram Temple: A Symbol of Faith and Cultural Heritage

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