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
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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