Evolution of Travel and Tourism Industry

Travel is one of the most important leisure activities in the world. Over the years, the travel industry has changed considerably. It is quite fascinating to see how travel agencies have evolved.

How far have we come? Where did it all start? Take a look at our ultimate travel evolution infographic to learn how the industry keeps moving forward, while evolving, expanding and showcasing more than any other industry.

1400

England and France passed a legislation that required hotels and inns to keep guest registries

1758

Cox & Kings, a travel company was founded

1760

Industrial revolution resulted in expansion of rail infrastructure across Europe and North America

1841

Thomas Cook, an international travel company was founded

1842

The first German travel agency, Reiseburo Rominger was started in Stuttgart

1887

Walter A. Brownell founded Brownell Tours and takes first 10 guests on an archeological tour of Switzerland

1891

American Express Company introduced the world’s first Traveller’s Cheque

1920

The first Indian travel company, Jeena Tours and Travels was established

1922

Travel agencies became a commonplace with the development of commercial aviation

1946

Avis Rent a Car, a car rental company was founded

1950

It took 90 minutes/customer to complete a booking process. So, many airlines began to seriously look for automation tools

1952

American Airlines installed the first automated booking system – the Reservisor

1953

TCA became the first airline in the world to use a CRS with remote terminals

1959

American Airlines switches to an automated airline reservation system known as SABRE

1971

United Airlines introduced the computerized system Apollo based on IBM’s PARS

1976

United Airlines began offering its Apollo system to travel agents

1978

UK based companies launch the world’s first reservation system Travicom

1987

Travicom handled 97% of UK airline business trade bookings

1988

European airlines developed their own GDS system Amadeus

1992

Galileo merged with Apollo system to book airline, hotel, train, cruise and car rental reservation

1993

Navitaire, a technology service provider of the airline and rail industries was founded

1995

Lonely Planet’s website is launched

1996

Microsoft found its own travel booking website Expedia

1996

Travelocity launched as a joint venture of Sabre Interactive and Worldview Systems Corp

1996

HotBot metasearch engine was created

1997

Jay S. Walker founded Priceline.com

1998

Travelzoo, an internet company that publishes travel and leisure deals was founded

1999

OpenTravel Alliance was founded to talk about the disparate systems in the global travel industry

2000

Hotwire, a website that offers airline tickets, hotel rooms, vacation packages etc was established

2001

Skyscanner, a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine was founded

2001

Orbitz.com a travel fare aggregator website was founded

2003

Couchsurfing international was formed as a New Hampshire nonprofit organization

2004

TripAdvisor was acquired by InterActiveCorp (IAC)

2004

Facebook was launched which inspired many to share their travel experience

2005

IAC spun off its travel group of businesses under the Expedia, Inc. brand

2005

Google Maps, a web mapping service developed by Google was founded

2008

AirBedAndBreakfast (later renamed to Airbnb) was founded

2009

Twitter inspires real-time messaging between travellers and travel brands

2009

Some of the major GDSs are Amadeus, Travelport, Sabre, Shares, Abacus, Travelsky, Infini, Axess and Topas

2010

Google buys IAT, a travel industry software

2010

HotelTonight app was founded. It allowed users to find accommodations in America, Europe and Australia

2011

Google Flights, an online flight booking search service was launched

2013

Kayak Software Corporation was acquired by the Priceline Group

2014

Sabre’s travel itinerary management app is the first travel app to integrate with a smartwatch

2015

Travelocity was acquired by Expedia

2016

WearGeared developed a Museum Glasses prototype application

2017

Amadeus introduces the world’s first Virtual Reality travel search and booking experience

2018

Amadeus launched their new portal Amadeus for developers

2019

Heathrow Airport’s biometrics project is aiming to fully deploy facial recognition for departures

Evolution of travel industry infographics

Evolution of Travel and Tourism Industry (Evolution of travel industry infographics) - ColorWhistle

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Conclusion

The travel industry has become a combination of DIY internet tools and travel management companies. Transportation innovations such as trains and airplanes have eliminated the problems and lowered travel costs. In short, it has become possible for travelers to go anywhere on the globe in less than 48 hours.

The market has split into a vast number of nice markets such as ecotourism, backpacking and historical tourism. There has been a handful of trips into orbit around Earth which is branded as ‘space tourism’ which is going to be an exciting chapter in the industry.

We ColorWhistle will keep updating this infographic as and when interesting things happen in the travel industry. Stay tuned!

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CW Content Marketing Team
About the Author - CW Content Marketing Team

ColorWhistle's content team is a group of rockstar writers and curators who create killer content for clients across industries. From blog posts to social media campaigns, ColorWhistle's content team creates content that captivates audience with content that educates, entertains, and inspires. With a passion for creativity and expertise in digital marketing, the team has what it takes to make your brand stand out in a crowded online space. In short, they're the wordsmith wizards that you want on your side for content that on-brand and on-trend.

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