Source: Story of Leicester
Cook hired a train from the Midland Railway Company to transport temperance movement supporters in Leicester to an anti-liquor meeting in Loughborough in July of 1841. He charged the 485 passengers one shilling per person.
Source: Story of Leicester
The service's popularity allowed Cook to expand to international travel within the decade.
Cook's son, John Mason Cook, took over the firm in 1879 and ran it for 20 years until his own death; his three sons then took it over for him.
Source: Telegraph, CNN
The company's slogan — "Don't just book it, Thomas Cook it!" — propelled the brand to household-name status for budget leisure travel, even after struggling through World War II and becoming state-owned and then privatized again in the late 1900s.
In 2001, Thomas Cook merged with one of Germany's largest travel groups and debuted Thomas Cook Airlines in 2003.
The company most recently boasted 22 million customers a year and just over 21,000 employees. The company also had 550 travel agency shops, 40,000 hotel rooms, and 105 airplanes.
In a 2019 report issued by the company, Thomas Cook's most popular vacation destinations were listed as Spain, Turkey, and Greece.
Different experiences mentioned as package highlights included visiting banana plantations in the Canary Islands and enjoying local food in Tunisia.
A 2018 report stated that their most popular package was typically seven to 10 nights and highly customizable.
Source: Associated Press
It ultimately secured a little over $100 million in necessary funding and was bailed out, The Guardian reported in 2011.
Source: Business Insider
If the 178-year-old brand were to live on in some fashion, the only foreseeable potential buyer is Fosun, a Chinese conglomerate that was the company's largest shareholder, according to the BBC.
Source: Business Insider, NPR, Reuters
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