Thomas Cook Ltd.
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| Private company, 1841–1948; 1972–2002 Government-owned (British Transport Commission) 1948–72 |
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| Industry | Hospitality, Tourism |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Thomas Cook AG |
| Founded | 1841 |
| Founder | Thomas Cook |
| Defunct | 2002 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
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Area served
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Global |
Thomas Cook & Son, originally simply Thomas Cook, was a company founded by Thomas Cook, a cabinet-maker, in 1841 to carry temperance supporters by railway between the cities of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham. It was succeeded by Thomas Cook AG after being sold to a German company in 2001, but since 2007 the descendant company is Thomas Cook Group plc.
In 1851, the founder arranged transport to the Great Exhibition of 1851. He organised his first tours to Europe in 1855 and to the United States in 1866. In 1865, the founder's son John Mason Cook began working for the company full-time. In 1871, he became a partner, and the name of the company was changed to Thomas Cook & Son.
Thomas Cook had acquired business premises on Fleet Street, London, in 1865. The office also contained a shop which sold travel accessories, including guide books, luggage, telescopes and footwear. Thomas saw his venture as both religious and social service; his son provided the commercial expertise that allowed the company to expand. In accordance with his beliefs, he and his wife also ran a small temperance hotel above the office. Their business model was refined by the introduction of the 'hotel coupon' in 1868. Detachable coupons in a counterfoil book were issued to the traveller. These were valid for either a restaurant meal or an overnight hotel stay, provided they were on Cook's list.
In 1866, the agency organised the first escorted tours of the United States for British travellers, picking up passengers from several departure points. John Mason Cook led the excursion which included tours of several Civil War battlefields. In 1871 a brief but bitter partnership called Cook, Son and Jenkins was formed in the United States with an American businessman. The first escorted round-the-world tour departed from London in September 1872. It included a steamship across the Atlantic, a stage coach across America, a paddle steamer to Japan, and an overland journey across China and India. The tour cost around £300 and lasted 222 days.
In 1873, publication of the quarterly (monthly from 1883) Cook's Continental Timetable began. It continues to be published in 2016, but no longer by Thomas Cook Publishing, which was wound up by its parent company in 2013; the timetable was relaunched in 2014 by an independent company, under the title European Rail Timetable, no longer affiliated with Thomas Cook Group.
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