the Pioneers of Tourism Industry

Thomas Cook & Son

The land of Nile has enjoyed a special status in the world map throughout the previous centuries. It is endowed with humanity’s earliest charisma that evokes a sense of awe and curiosity to dig deep into it. This wonder and mystery has attracted many travelers and tourists to the land of pharaoh and has quenched their thirst to know about this exotic land. The urge to visit Egypt, an African country, from the far west created needs for a convenient system of travel to avoid the travails of the exhaustive journey.

As a result, Egypt realized and developed the travel industry much ahead of other countries. A name that is synonymous to the travel industry of Egypt is that of Thomas Cook. Thomas Cook was an English gentleman, who heralded the era of travel business in Egypt and opened the country as the prospective sight for spending winter holidays.

Thomas Cook There were significant changes taking place at the political level that facilitated the growth of travel and tourism in Egypt during the second half of nineteenth century. Imperial inclinations were quite explicit in the trend of British political policy from 1880 onwards. The motto “Britannia o’er the land holds sway, Britannia rules the waves” was the driving force behind the British Imperialistic policy. With the affirmation of Khedive Tewfik, the British captured the Suez Canal in 1882. Besides this, the news journals of the time gave elaborate description of the exotic lands like Egypt and India that raised the interest of the masses in visiting these places. Thus, the well-off Britons found Egypt a good option and took to the travels.

The century around its close brought with it new technological advancements. The introduction of trains and steamers considerably reduced the traveling time and the political domination in the area gave the European and mainly British travelers a sense of security. It was during this time that Thomas and John Cook recognized the potential of travel business. Khedive Ismail, viceroy Ottoman Empire, employed Cook as agent for Nile passenger traffic in 1870. This control of river traffic gave Thomas Cook and Sons an edge over their rivals and brought incalculable profit later.

Cook was a true entrepreneur who tried to explore the psyche of the customers and looked after their probable inconveniencies. To make the travel more appealing and attractive Cook’s travel-journal carried pictures of a Nile-steamer and pyramids. It certainly reminded and assured the people of the great traveling prospects that it offered. The Cook travel business almost had a monopoly in conducting tours to the exotica. The services included, comfort rides down the river Nile alongside visits to the sphinx and pyramids.

Pleased with the work, in 1880 the Egyptian Government bestowed the Cooks sole control over the entire passenger steamers on the Nile. Charged with the positive note Cooks started to invest on rented steamers possessed by the Khedive, and began to handle the service, bearing even the risk. The effect was such that the long known river Nile was more popularly termed as “Cook’s canal”.

During the early years of its set up (1880-81) the fare from London to Lower Egypt and the Nile varied between 81 and 119 pounds. The fare included many facilities from traveling stay to lodging and from expenditure on donkeys to Nile-steamers expenses.

Cook had a remarkable foresight and he expanded his traveling business extensively basing it on the requirements of his customers. Winter sunlight, especially in the Upper Egypt worked as an elixir for handicaps and other people suffering from health problems. During the year 1877-78 Cook’s have opened a hotel in Luxor to suffice the need of this particular section. The experiment was an immediate success that boosted their hotel business. The old Cataract Hotel located at Aswan also goes to their merit lending them a firm foothold in the Upper Egypt’s hotel business.

In the year 1884-85, the Cooks transported the Anglo-Egyptian army on an expedition to rescue Charles Gordon from Khartoum. This was the first time the British army had to take the help of a private company.

The industry and dedication paid well to the Cooks and in 1891 John Cook could remark with satisfaction that, “during twenty years my company has conducted passenger traffic on the Nile, from three to four million sterling (pounds) has been circulated in Egypt by travelers”. The most pertinent reason of Cook’s success was the fact they had an all round approach. They did not make themselves class specific and offered different services to the different stratum. Varying in luxury, they also served the middle class clients well by introducing “Popular Tours” with affordable price range. The Cooks devised the newest techniques, to save their clientele from any unnecessary trouble. They introduced a primitive kind of traveler’s cheque.

The business was transferred to a company, Thomas Cook & Son (Egypt) Limited but the administration remained in their hands only. The figure of nominal capital of Thomas Cook & Son Limited was huge mounting up to 20.000 pounds. The travel company and hotel business opened new job opportunities for the Egyptians also. Yet the policy of tourism industry was explicitly in favor of creating utmost profit, caring negligibly for the natives. The growth of travel industry pushed the traditional industries to the background and transformed the commercial sector to suit its needs.

The tourist industry of Egypt owes much to the Cooks. They hired the largest workforce in Egypt and gave the country a unique identity in the field of tourism industry. They foresaw the tremendous potentiality of Egypt’s tourism industry because the country holds an irresistible attraction for outsiders. With quality travel service, better traffic connections and inexpensive labor the Coos left a permanent imprint on the travel business of Egypt. Rightly, John Cook and the company are titled as the king of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Featured product by our sponsor

Up the Nile by Steam
by R. Etzensberger - Thomas Cook & Son
with Tourist Programmers for the East by Thomas Cook & Son and Specially designed maps by Keith Johnston. London, Thomas Cook & Son, 1872. An eBook from Bookolica.com.