IN the wake of the collapse of travel giant Thomas Cook, what now for the package holiday the company was so famous for?

Did Thomas Cook pioneer the package holiday?

As Britain’s oldest travel group, formed in 1841 by Derbyshire preacher, Thomas Cook, it seems he set it in motion.

In that year, he arranged the first “tour”, which was a bespoke one-day rail excursion for temperance supporters, from Leicester to Loughborough.

And this is regarded as the birth of the concept?

Despite not including an overnight stay, experts hail it as the “forerunner of the modern package holiday”.

He then cast his eyes abroad?

Further rail journeys followed and from 1846, he began organising tours to Scotland, Ireland and the continent, before going global in the 1860s. He believed that the rising incomes of the middle classes in the post-industrial revolution era had opened up a market for such foreign holidays - which had previously been the domain of the wealthy only.

How did the package develop?

After the Second World War - during which foreign trips had been brought to a standstill - holidays gradually began to take off again. There was even a rise in the number of ex-servicemen who wanted to return to places in which they had fought, while holidaymakers in general also moved way from traditional breaks at British seaside resorts.

And in 1950?

Russian emigre, Vladimir Raitz, set up Horizon Holidays and decided that rather than sending tourists on long journeys by rail and sea that could take days, he would charter a series of weekly flights to Palma. And so, he is generally regarded as the inventor of the ‘package’ holiday.

The 1960s were boom time?

Yes, thanks to a range of factors, including the simplicity of the ‘integrated’ holiday, with flights and accommodation booked for you. Hotel construction soared across the Mediterranean, notably in Spain. At the same time, incomes were rising and flights were becoming faster and more affordable.

What went wrong?

The rise of both the internet and low-cost airlines weakened the appeal of the traditional package holiday, as people began booking their own breaks, or turning to smaller online-only firms whose costs were lower, due to not having to sustain high street stores.

Will the package holiday survive?

It does remain popular as travel agents can take the strain of sorting holidays out from A to Z. They can also offer hotel chains guaranteed bookings without having to operate their own sales operations.

But it has had to adapt?

Scots firm Barrhead Travel say the look of the package holiday may be changing but the principle is the same.

Jacqueline Dobson, president of the firm, says the perception of a package holiday “doesn’t have to be a traditional bucket and spade Spanish holiday”, as they book package breaks such as a touring holiday, a rail break, a long-haul vacation or even a cruise that are all “still classed as a package holiday”.

MAUREEN SUGDEN