Travel: April 2025

Sunday, 6 April 2025

Ticketing and Reservation System

Airline reservation systems incorporate airline schedules, fare tariffs, passenger reservations and ticket records. An airline's direct distribution works within their own reservation system, as well as pushing out information to the GDS. The second type of direct distribution channel are consumers who use the internet or mobile applications to make their own reservations. Travel agencies and other indirect distribution channels access the same GDS as those accessed by the airline reservation systems, and all messaging is transmitted by a standardized messaging system that functions on two types of messaging that transmit on SITA's high level network HLN. These messaging types are called Type A for real time interactive communication and Type B for informational and booking type of messages. Message construction standards set by IATA and ICAO, are global, and apply to more than air transportation. Since airline reservation systems are business critical applications, and they are functionally quite complex, the operation of an in-house airline reservation system is relatively expensive.

Prior to deregulation, airlines owned their own reservation systems with travel agents subscribing to them. Today, the GDS are run by independent companies with airlines and travel agencies being major subscribers.

As of February 2009, there are only a few major GDS providers in the market: Amadeus, Travelport which operates the Apollo, Worldspan and Galileo systems, Sabre, InteliSys Aviation which owns ameliaRES PSS and Shares. There is one major Regional GDS, Abacus, serving the Asian market and a number of regional players serving single countries, including Travelsky China, OR Russia, Infini and Axess both Japan and Topas South Korea. Of these, Infini is hosted within the Sabre complex, Axess is in the process of moving into a partition within the Worldspan complex, and Topas agencies will be migrating into Amadeus.

Reservation systems may host ticket-less airlines and hybrid airlines that use e-ticketing in addition to ticket-less to accommodate code-shares and interlines.

In addition to these standardized GDS, some airlines have proprietary versions which they use to run their flight operations. A few examples are Delta's OSS and Deltamatic systems and EDS SHARES. SITA Reservations remains the largest neutral multi-host airline reservations system, with over 100 airlines currently managing inventory.

Inventory management

In the airline industry, available seats are commonly referred to as inventory. The inventory of an airline is generally classified into service classes economy, premium economy, business or first class and any number of fare classes, to which different prices and booking conditions may apply. Fare classes are complicated and vary from airline to airline, often indicated by a one letter code. The meaning of these codes are not often known by the passenger, but conveys information to airline staff, for example they may indicate that a ticket was fully paid, or discounted or purchased through a loyalty scheme, etc. Some seats may not be available for open sale, but reserved for example for connecting flight or loyalty scheme passengers. Overbooking is also a common practice, and is an exception to inventory management principles. One of the core functions of inventory management is inventory control. Inventory control monitors how many seats are available in the different fare classes, and by opening and closing individual fare classes for sale.

Tour operator

The most common example of a tour operator's product would be a flight on a charter airline, plus a transfer from the airport to a hotel and the services of a local representative, all for one price. Each tour operator may specialise in certain destinations, Italy, activities and experiences, skiing, or a combination thereof.

Operations

The original raison d'être of tour operating was the difficulty for ordinary folk of making arrangements in far-flung places, with problems of language, currency and communication. The advent of the Internet has led to a rapid increase in self-packaging of holidays. However, tour operators still have their competence in arranging tours for those who do not have time to do DIY holidays, and specialize in large group events and meetings such as conferences or seminars. Also, tour operators still exercise contracting power with suppliers airlines, hotels, other land arrangements, cruise companies and so on and influence over other entities tourism boards and other government authorities in order to create packages and special group departures for destinations that might otherwise be difficult and expensive to visit.

Trade associations

The three major tour operator associations in the U.S. are the National Tour Association NTA, the United States Tour Operators Association USTOA, and the American Bus Association ABA. In Europe, there are the European Tour Operators Association ETOA, and in the UK, the ABTA – The Travel Association and the Association of Independent Tour Operators AITO. The primary association for receptive North American inbound tour operators is the International Inbound Travel Association.

Car rental

The earliest known example of cars being offered for rent dates back to 1906. The German company Sixt was established in 1912 under the name Sixt Autofahrten und Selbstfahrer Sixt Car Cruises and Self Drivers.

Joe Saunders of Omaha, Nebraska first started with only one borrowed Model T Ford in 1916, but by 1917, his Ford Livery Company was renting out 18 Model Ts at 10 cents per mile. The company name became Saunders Drive-It-Yourself System and then Saunders System. By 1926, Saunders had expanded to 56 cities. Saunders' company was bought by Avis in 1955.

An early competitor to Saunders was Walter L. Jacobs, whose Chicago-based Rent-a-Car opened in 1918 with twelve Ford Model T's. The company was bought in 1923 by John Hertz.

In Britain, car rental started with Godfrey Davis, established in 1920, and bought by Europcar in 1981.

The sector expanded rapidly in the US; in 1926, the American Driveurself Association assembled over 1200 delegates in Chicago.

The growth in travel after World War II led to the establishment of several well known international companies, including National Car Rental 1947, Europcar 1949, Enterprise Rent-A-Car 1957, Thrifty Rent A Car 1958, and Budget Rent a Car 1958.

Business models

The Rental Car Center at George Bush Intercontinental Airport

Car rental companies operate by purchasing or leasing a number of fleet vehicles and renting them to their customers for a fee. Rental fleets can be structured in several ways – they can be owned outright these are known as risk vehicles because the car rental operator is taking a risk on how much the vehicle will be sold for when it is removed from service, they can be leased, or they can be owned under a guaranteed buy-back program arranged directly through a manufacturer or manufacturer's financial arm these are known as repurchase vehicles because the manufacturer outlines the exact price of original sale and of repurchase at the end of a defined term.

In the UK, the registration of rental cars can be concealed by using unfamiliar initials or subsidiaries, which can increase the resale value via manufacturer or third-party dealers. In North America, it is common to see rental companies with their own branded second-hand car dealers where the ex-rental stock is sold directly to the public. Alternatively, auctions are often used in the United States and with the advent of digital platforms, rental cars have increasingly sold the vehicles directly to new and used car dealers bypassing the auction channels.

Indian Railways

In 1832 the proposal to construct the first railway line in India at Madras was made. In 1835, a railway track was constructed between Red Hills and Chintadripet in Madras and became operational in 1837. It was hauled by a rotary steam engine imported from England and was used for ferrying granite.

The railway bridge near Thane in 1855

Railway map of India in 1865

The Madras Railway was established in 1845 and the Great Indian Peninsular Railway was incorporated in 1849. Temporary railway lines were built such as the railway line at Dowleswaram built by Arthur Cotton to supply stone for the construction of a dam over the Godavari River in 1845 and the Solani aqueduct railway, built by Proby Cautley in Roorkee to transport construction materials for an aqueduct over the Solani river in 1851. In 1852, a steam locomotive imported from England was tried at Byculla. In 1853, the first passenger train on 1,676 mm 5 ft 6 in broad gauge ran for 34 kilometres 21 mi between Bombay and Thane which had 14-carriages carrying 400 people, hauled by three steam locomotives: the Sahib, Sindh and Sultan. This day is considered to be the formation date of the Indian Railways and is marked annually as Indian Railways Day.

The Thane viaducts, the first railway bridges, were built over the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May 1854. Eastern India's first passenger train ran 39 km 24 mi from Howrah, near Kolkata, to Hoogly on 15 August 1854. The construction of the first main line in South India between Royapuram in Madras and Arcot started in 1853, which became operational on 1 July 1856. On 24 February 1873, a horse-drawn 3.8 km 2.4 mi tram opened in Calcutta between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat street. In 1875, a railway line was opened between Mokama and Darbhanga by the local ruler Lakshmeshwar Singh through Tirhut Railway. On 9 May 1874, a horse-drawn tramway began operation in Bombay between Colaba and Parel. In 1879, the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was established which built railway lines across the then Hyderabad State from Kachiguda. In 1877, Ajmer built F1 class metre-gauge steam locomotive no. 734 became the first indigenously built locomotive in India. In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced with Jodhpur Railway, the first to introduce electric lighting as a standard fixture.

1900–1999

Railway map of India in 1914

The first railway budget was presented in 1924. On 3 February 1925, the first electric train ran between Bombay and Kurla, hauled by a SLM electric locomotive on DC traction. In 1925, the first Electric Multiple Units (EMU) were introduced in Bombay with 1500 V DC units imported from Cammell Laird and Uerdingenwagonfabrik. Chennai suburban railway started operating in 1931 with a single metre-gauge line from Chennai Beach to Tambaram. In the period between 1925 and 1944, the management of the railway companies in the British presidencies and provinces was taken over by the Government.

Cruise ship

Italy, a traditional focus of the Grand Tour, offered an early cruise experience on the Francesco I, flying the flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Built in 1831, the Francesco I sailed from Naples in early June 1833, preceded by an advertising campaign. Nobles, authorities, and royal princes from all over Europe boarded the cruise ship, which sailed in just over three months to Taormina, Catania, Syracuse, Malta, Corfu, Patras, Delphi, Zante, Athens, Smyrna and Constantinople, providing passengers with excursions and guided tours.

P&O first introduced passenger-cruising services in 1844, advertising sea tours to destinations such as Gibraltar, Malta and Athens, sailing from Southampton. The forerunner of modern cruise holidays, these voyages were the first of their kind. P O Cruises is the world's oldest cruise line. The company later introduced round trips to destinations such as Alexandria and Constantinople. It underwent a period of rapid expansion in the latter half of the 19th century, commissioning larger and more luxurious ships to serve the steadily expanding market. Notable ships of the era include SS Ravenna built in 1880, which became the first ship built with a total steel superstructure, and SS Valetta built in 1889.

Prinzessin Victoria Luise was the first purpose-built cruise ship.

The cruise of Augusta Victoria in the Mediterranean and the Near East from 22 January to 22 March 1891, with 241 passengers including Albert Ballin and wife themselves, is often stated to have been the first ever cruise. Christian Wilhelm Allers published an illustrated account of it as Backschisch.

The first vessel built exclusively for luxury cruising was Prinzessin Victoria Luise of the German Empire, designed by Albert Ballin, general manager of the Hamburg-America Line. The ship was completed in 1900.

The practice of luxury cruising made steady inroads into the more established market for transatlantic crossings. In the competition for passengers, ocean liners – Titanic being the most famous example – added luxuries such as fine dining, luxury services, and staterooms with finer appointments. In the late-19th century, Albert Ballin, director of the Hamburg-America Line, was the first to send his transatlantic ships out on long southern cruises during the worst of the North Atlantic winter seasons. Other companies followed suit. Some of them built specialized ships designed for easy transformation between summer crossings and winter cruising.

In 1897 three luxury liners, all European-owned, offered transportation between Europe and North America. In 1906 the number had increased to seven. The British Inman Line owned City of Paris, the Cunard Line had Campania and Lucania. The White Star Line owned Majestic and Teutonic. La Lorraine and La Savoie sailed for the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.

Beginning in the late 19th century, the emphasis of the cruise ship industry gradually shifted from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. As more dedicated cruise ships were built in the coming decades, the Caribbean would become the global center of cruising.

Public transport bus service

An express bus service also known as express commuter service, commuter bus service, or suburban bus service is a fixed-route bus service that is intended to run faster than normal bus services between the same two commuter or destination points, typically on longer-distance routes.

Express buses operate on a faster schedule by not making as many stops as normal bus services and often taking quicker routes, such as along freeways, or by using dedicated lanes or roadways. Express buses may also operate out of park and rides, in some cases only during rush hour in the peak direction. 205

Fares on express bus services may be higher than normal parallel services. Many express buses act as precursors to bus rapid transit lines and employ a proof-of-payment scheme, requiring passengers to purchase tickets before boarding the bus, speeding up the service. These services may also use suburban coaches that feature amenities like comfortable seating and wireless Internet service, particularly on routes that travel long distances at higher speeds without stopping.

In many cases, an express bus service is identified by a letter before or after the regular route number. For example, in Sydney, the letters L as in L90, E as in E70 and X as in 610X or X84. L indicates that the bus runs along the normal route, while E and X indicate that the bus runs along a more direct route. In New York City, express buses operate using coaches from Motor Coach Industries and Prevost Car, and all except the BxM4 operate along highways, sometimes for a large portion of the route. For example, the QM8, QM5 and QM2 Super Expresses, the SIM26, SIM22, SIM25, BxM11 and X38 all operate on highways for most of their route. Many transit systems may also use a specific number before or after the regular route number. For example, in Toronto, the number 9 as in 995 goes before the regular route number to display an express bus service.

Long distance transport

Main article: Intercity bus service

Long-distance coach services US: Intercity bus line are bus services operated over long distances between cities. These services can form the mainstay of the travel network in countries with poor railway infrastructure. Different coach operators may band together on a franchise or connecting basis to offer a branded network that covers large distances, such as Trailways and National Express. These networks can even operate internationally, such as Eurolines of Europe. Interurban bus services are primarily aimed at linking together one or more urban centres, and as such are often run as express services while travelling in the intermediate rural areas, or even only call at two terminal points as a long distance shuttle service. Some interurban services may be operated as high specification luxury services, using coaches, in order to compete with railways, or link areas not rail connected. Interurban services may often terminate in central bus stations rather than on street stops. Other interurban services may specifically call at intermediate villages and may use slower transit buses or dual purpose buses.

Saturday, 5 April 2025

Airline ticket

A ticket is generally only good on the airline for which it was purchased. However, an airline can endorse the ticket, so that it may be accepted by other airlines, sometimes on a standby basis or with a confirmed seat. Usually, the ticket is for a specific flight. It is also possible to purchase an 'open' ticket, which allows travel on any flight between the destinations listed on the ticket. The cost of this is greater than a ticket for a specific flight. Some tickets are refundable. However, the lower-cost tickets are usually not refundable and may carry many additional restrictions.

The carrier airline is represented by a standardized two-character alphanumeric code. In the example above, Thai Airways is TG. The departure and destination cities are represented by International Air Transport Association airport codes. In the example above, Munich is MUC and Bangkok is BKK. The International Air Transport Association is the standard-setting organization.

Only one passenger can use a ticket. If multiple passengers are traveling together, the tickets are linked together by the same record locator or reservation number, which are assigned if the tickets were purchased at the same time. If not, most airlines can cross-reference the tickets together in their reservation systems. This allows all members in a party to be processed in a group, allowing seat assignments to be together if available at the time of the assignment.

Issuing an air ticket

An itinerary where multiple passengers are in same reservation with a ticket number for each passenger

A revenue passenger on an airline must hold a valid issued ticket. In order for a ticket to be issued, there are two distinct processes; both of these are required:

Reservation

A reservation for an itinerary is made in the airline system, either directly by the passenger or by an agent. The itinerary includes all the above details needed for the issuance of an air ticket, except the ticket number.

When the reservation is made, a passenger name record PNR will be created which is used to manage the reservation and check in. There can be multiple passengers in a single passenger name record provided that all passengers have the same itinerary and fare type.

Issuance

Having a reservation does not itself entitle the passenger to travel. Only when the airline receives the payment or a passenger redeems miles/points, a ticket is issued which is linked to the reservation and allows the passenger to travel.

Historically, reservation and payment are separate steps, with the allowed time between booking and payment being defined in the fare rules when the reservation is made. With modern booking systems, it has become more common to require immediate payment before a reservation is made.

Each passenger must have his/her own air ticket, as shown by an individual ticket number, even when the reservations are linked by a single PNR.

Online shopping

One of the earliest forms of trade conducted online was IBM's online transaction processing OLTP developed in the 1960s, which allowed the processing of financial transactions in real-time. The computerized ticket reservation system developed for American Airlines called Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment SABRE was one of its applications. There, computer terminals located in different travel agencies were linked to a large IBM mainframe computer, which processed transactions simultaneously and coordinated them so that all travel agents had access to the same information at the same time. At some point between 1971 and 1972, students at Stanford and MIT used the internet precursor ARPANET to make a deal to exchange marijuana, but the interaction does not qualify as e-commerce because no money was transferred online.

The landscape of online shopping as we know it today took shape with the rise of the Internet. Initially serving as a mere advertising platform, the Internet transitioned swiftly into a dynamic space for actual online transactions. This transformation was fueled by the development of interactive web pages and secure transmission protocols, marking a pivotal moment in 1994 with the first online sales of Sting's album, Ten Summoner's Tales.

This milestone event set the stage for the diversification of online retail, with early adopters such as wine, chocolates, and flowers paving the way. These products became pioneers in the e-commerce realm, capturing the attention of a growing audience. Researchers identified a crucial factor for internet success – the suitability of products for online transactions. Generic items that didn't necessitate physical interaction gained traction, propelling the online shopping trend forward.

In its nascent stages, online shopping faced a limited audience. The early adopters were predominantly affluent males aged 30 and above. However, this demographic landscape underwent significant changes over time, and the online shopping sphere became more inclusive.

Over the years, the United Kingdom has witnessed a substantial shift in consumer behavior, with online shopping accounting for a noteworthy percentage of retail transactions. The extent of this influence varies depending on the product category, highlighting the diverse ways in which consumers engage with online platforms.

Growth in online shoppers

As the revenues from online sales continued to grow significantly researchers identified different types of online shoppers, Rohm & Swaninathan identified four categories and named them convenience shoppers, variety seekers, balanced buyers, and store-oriented shoppers. They focused on shopping motivations and found that the variety of products available and the perceived convenience of the buying online experience were significant motivating factors. This was different for offline shoppers, who were more motivated by time saving and recreational motives.

Shopping

In antiquity, marketplaces and fairs were established to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. People would shop for goods at a regular market in nearby towns. However, the transient nature of stalls and stall-holders meant the consumers needed to make careful inspection of goods prior to purchase. In ancient Greece, the agora served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods.

Ancient Rome utilized a similar marketplace known as the forum. Rome had two forums; the Forum Romanum and Trajan's Forum. Trajan's Market at Trajan's forum, built around 100-110CE, was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with tabernae that served as retail shops, situated on four levels. The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shopfront. In the Roman world, the central market primarily served the local peasantry. Those who lived on the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates, obviating their need to attend local markets.

Shopping lists are known to have been used by Romans. One such list was discovered near Hadrian's Wall dated back to 75–125 CE and written for a soldier.

Middle Ages

An early 17th-century shop, with customers being served through an opening onto the street

Archaeological evidence suggests that the British engaged in minimal shopping in the early Middle Ages. Instead, they provided for their basic needs through subsistence farming practices and a system of localised personal exchanges. However, by the late Middle Ages, consumers turned to markets for the purchase of fresh produce, meat and fish and the periodic fairs where non-perishables and luxury goods could be obtained. Women were responsible for everyday household purchases, but most of their purchasing was of a mundane nature. For the main part, shopping was seen as a chore rather than a pleasure.

Relatively few permanent shops were to be found outside the most populous cities. Instead customers walked into the tradesman's workshops where they discussed purchasing options directly with tradesmen. Itinerant vendors such as costermongers, hucksters and peddlers operated alongside markets, providing the convenience of home delivery to households, and especially to geographically isolated communities.

In the more populous European cities, a small number of shops were beginning to emerge by the 13th century. Specialist retailers such as mercers and haberdashers were known to exist in London, while grocers sold miscellaneous small wares as well as spices and medicines. However, these shops were primitive. As late as the 16th century, London's shops were described as little more than rude booths.

The medieval shopper's experience was very different from that of the contemporary shopper. Interiors were dark and shoppers had relatively few opportunities to inspect the merchandise prior to consumption. Glazed windows in retail environments, were virtually unknown during the medieval period. Goods were rarely out on display; instead retailers kept the merchandise at the rear of the store and would only bring out items on request. The service counter was virtually unknown and instead, many stores had openings onto the street from which they served customers.

In Britain, medieval attitudes to retailing and shopping were negative. Retailers were no better than hucksters, because they simply resold goods, by buying cheaper and selling dearer, without adding value of national accounts. Added to this were concerns about the self-interest of retailers and some of their more unethical practices. Attitudes to spending on luxury goods also attracted criticism, since it involved importing goods which did little to stimulate national accounts, and interfered with the growth of worthy local manufacturers.

Hotels.com

Hotels.com was established in 1991 by David Litman and Robert Diener as the Hotel Reservations Network HRN, providing hotel booking via a toll-free phone number in the United States. In 2001, the company was acquired by USA Networks Inc USAI which also acquired a controlling interest in Expedia, an online travel booking company.

After buying the domain name for approximately US 11 million, HRN changed its name in 2002 to Hotels.com and launched the offline brand 1-800-2-Hotels as well as allowing hotel bookings on line. There followed a period of rapid international expansion with 29 sites added over the next two years. In 2003, USAI was renamed InterActiveCorp IAC. In 2005 IAC separated its travel business under the name Expedia Inc. Hotels.com then became an operating company of Expedia Inc.

In 2006, Hotels.com experienced a data breach when a laptop containing personal information of approximately 243,000 customers was stolen. The compromised data included names, addresses, and credit card information. There was no evidence of fraudulent activity. In 2007, the company was found in violation of California's Unruh Civil Rights Act in a lawsuit regarding accessibility for customers with mobility disabilities.

In 2011, the site launched an iPad application and updated its mobile phone product on iPhone and Android.

On December 1, 2016, Hotels.com took over Venere.com another Expedia owned company.

In 2019, it was reported that the Hotels.com mobile app used session-replay technology from Israeli firm Glassbox, which recorded user activity and sent data to Expedia servers without explicit user consent.

Loyalty program

The first loyalty program for Hotels.com was called Hotels.com Rewards formerly Welcome Rewards and rolled out across multiple countries from 2008 to 2011. On July 6, 2023, Hotels.com replaced Hotels.com Rewards with One Key. The new program decreased rewards by 80 percent, including bookings paid in advance under the terms of the prior program. The website Frequent Miler criticized these changes as an unusually large devaluation of the program not comparable to any other loyalty program change in the hospitality industry for a company not undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.

Resort hotel

Since the 1800s, the traditional concept full-service conference and resort hotels have been based upon a venue which is typically remote and has a natural feature as its attraction. For example, the Kviknes Hotel in Norway was a difficult to reach remote location which provides visitors access to the scenic Sognefjord at Balestrand or The Brando Resort on Tetiaroa which is only accessible by a private plane from Tahiti. Historically there were certain built-in amenities such as gourmet cuisine, music recitals, and shoreline trails; however, the amenities of modern post-1980 destination hotels dwarf the scale of these earlier models. Many of the Las Vegas and Caribbean resort hotels have complete shopping malls, conference centers and large entertainment halls on site; thus, the contemporary version of a destination often features large on-site capital investment in activities, although the access to a local natural feature is still retained by many newer destination hotels.

A mega-resort is a type of destination which is of an exceptionally large size, sometimes featuring large-scale attractions casino, golf course, theme park, multiple accommodations. The hotels along the Las Vegas Strip are most typically thought of as mega-resorts owing to their immense size and complexity. Kirk Kerkorian is credited for building the first mega-resort in 1969 earning him the nickname father of the mega-resort.

Two projects in Las Vegas in 1969 and 1973 by architect Martin Stern, Jr. and entrepreneur Kirk Kerkorian, the International Hotel and the MGM Grand, set the standard for such casino resorts. The Mirage gave its size and emphasis on non-gaming entertainment options like shopping and fine dining to draw in customers. Mega-resorts use the same fantastic or mythical theme medieval life at Excalibur, tropical at The Mirage, famous cities, etc. throughout their properties.

Many mega-resorts have a large theme park as its centerpiece. Resorts such as the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts feature multiple hotels, multiple theme parks, a shopping complex, and other features. Other mega-resorts exist with no specific centerpiece, having many features that are considered prominent, such as Atlantis Paradise Island and its upcoming sister park in Dubai.

Booking.com

In 1996, Geert-Jan Bruinsma, a student at Universiteit Twente, founded Bookings.nl. In 2000, Booking.com was formed when Bookings.nl merged with Bookings Online, founded by Sicco and Alec Behrens, Marijn Muyser, and Bas Lemmens, which operated as Bookings.org. The name and URL were changed to Booking.com, and Stef Noorden was appointed as its CEO. In July 2005, the company was acquired by Priceline Group now called Booking Holdings for 133 million, and was merged with ActiveHotels.com, a European online hotel reservation company, purchased by Priceline Group for $161 million in September 2004.

In 2006, Active Hotels Limited changed its name to Booking.com Limited. The integrations of Booking.com and Active Hotels helped its parent company improve its financial position from a loss of 19 million in 2002 to 1.1 billion in profit in 2011. The acquisition of Booking.com was praised by some social media as the best acquisition in Internet history since no other acquisition in the digital travel market had been shown to be as profitable. Between 2010 and 2012, the company launched mobile apps for the iPad, Android, iPhone, iPod Touch, Windows 8, and Kindle Fire. Since January 2013, many advertisements have dubbed "booking.com" as booking.yeah.

In 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States decided within the Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B. V. case that the term Booking.com, via the suffix .com, had created an identity that could be differentiated from the generic verb and hence could be trademarked. In the summer of 2023, Booking.com announced the start of testing an artificial intelligence-based travel planner. AI Trip Planner is based on ChatGPT technology. It is intended to help choose a direction, plan a route, or answer specific questions. Initially, the service will be available to a limited number of users in the United States. In November 2023, Booking.com launched the ability to make cruise reservations in the United States, in partnership with World Travel Holdings.

Management history

Darren Huston was appointed chief executive officer of Booking.com in September 2011 and also served as president and chief executive officer of Booking Holdings from 1 January 2014, until his resignation on 28 April 2016 after his extramarital affair with another employee was revealed. Gillian Tans was then appointed CEO. Tans resigned in 2019, after which Glenn Fogel became CEO.

Controversies and criticism

Anti-competitive allegations

In September 2012, the United Kingdom's competition authority, the Office of Fair Trading OFT, issued a statement of objections against Booking.com, Expedia, and IHG Hotels & Resorts alleging that Booking.com and Expedia had entered into separate arrangements with IHG which restricted the online travel agent's ability to discount the price of room-only hotel accommodation. Booking.com, Expedia and IHG proposed the OFT to change their restrictions. The OFT accepted the proposal, but it was later rejected by higher authority at a tribunal.

In April 2015, French, Swedish and Italian competition authorities accepted a proposal by Booking.com to drop its "rate parity" clause and thereby allow competitor travel agents to offer lower hotel prices than Booking.com. Booking.com further agreed to extend and apply its proposal across all EU states. Hotels are still prevented from discounting prices directly on their own websites. In April 2015, the European Union warned that Booking.com is one of several internet firms that may have reached market dominance beyond the point of no return.

In March 2017, a Turkish court halted activities of Booking.com in Turkey due to a violation of Turkish competition law in a case filed by the Turkish Association of Travel Agents TÜRSAB. The ruling blocked the website in Turkey; however, website and application can be used from foreign countries to make reservations for hotels in Turkey.

Holiday

The word holiday has differing connotations in different regions. In the United States, the word is used exclusively to refer to the nationally, religiously, or culturally observed days of rest or celebration or the events themselves, whereas in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations, the word may refer to the period of time where leave from one's duties has been agreed upon and is used as a synonym for the US preferred vacation. This time is usually set aside for rest, travel, or participation in recreational activities, with entire industries targeted to coincide with or enhance these experiences. The days of leave may not coincide with any specific customs or laws. Employers and educational institutes may designate 'holidays' themselves, which may or may not overlap nationally or culturally relevant dates, which again comes under this connotation, but it is the first implication detailed that this article is concerned with. Modern use varies geographically. In North America, it means any dedicated day or period of celebration. In the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, holiday is often used instead of the word vacation.

Global holidays

The celebration of the New Year has been a common holiday across cultures for at least four millennia. Such holidays normally celebrate the last day of a year and the arrival of the next year in a calendar system. In modern cultures using the Gregorian calendar, the New Year's celebration spans New Year's Eve on 31 December and New Year's Day on 1 January. However, other calendar systems also have New Year's celebration, such as Chinese New Year and Vietnamese Tet. New Year's Day is the most common public holiday, observed by all countries using the Gregorian calendar except Israel.

Christmas is a popular holiday globally due to the spread of Christianity. The holiday is recognised as a public holiday in many countries in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australasia and is celebrated by over 2 billion people. Although a holiday with religious origins, Christmas is often celebrated by non-Christians as a secular holiday. For example, 61 of British people celebrate Christmas in an entirely secular way. Christmas has also become a tradition in some non-Christian countries. For many Japanese people, it has become customary to buy and eat fried chicken on Christmas.

Recently invented holidays commemorate a range of modern social and political issues and other important topics. The United Nations publishes a list of International Days and Weeks. One such day is International Women's Day on 8 March, which celebrates women's achievements and campaigns for gender equality and women's rights. Earth Day has been celebrated by people across the world since 1970, with 10,000 events in 2007. It is a holiday marking the dangers of environmental damage, such as pollution and the climate crisis.

Common secular holidays

Other secular holidays are observed regionally, nationally and across multi-country regions. The United Nations Calendar of Observances[ dedicates decades to a specific topic, but also a complete year, month, week and days. Holidays dedicated to an observance such as the commemoration of the ending of World War II, or the Shoah, can also be part of the reparation obligation as per UN General Assembly Resolution 60 147 Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.

Another example of a major secular holiday is the Lunar New Year, which is celebrated across East Asia and South East Asia. Many other days are marked to celebrate events or people, but are not strictly holidays as time off work is rarely given; examples include Arbor Day, International Worker's Day celebrated sometimes under different names and on different days in different countries, and Earth Day 22 April.

Train

Trains are an evolution of wheeled wagons running on stone wagonways, the earliest of which were built by Babylon circa 2,200 BCE. Starting in the 1500s, wagonways were introduced to haul material from mines; from the 1790s, stronger iron rails were introduced. Following early developments in the second half of the 1700s, in 1804 a steam locomotive built by British inventor Richard Trevithick powered the first ever steam train. Outside of coal mines, where fuel was readily available, steam locomotives remained untried until the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. British engineer George Stephenson ran a steam locomotive named Locomotion No. 1 on this 40-kilometer 25-mile long line, hauling over 400 passengers at up to 13 kilometers per hour (8 mph). The success of this locomotive, and Stephenson's Rocket in 1829, convinced many of the value in steam locomotives, and within a decade the stock market bubble known as "Railway Mania" started across the United Kingdom.

The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power.

News of the success of steam locomotives quickly reached the United States, where the first steam railroad opened in 1829. American railroad pioneers soon started manufacturing their own locomotives, designed to handle the sharper curves and rougher track typical of the country's railroads. The other nations of Europe also took note of British railroad developments, and most countries on the continent constructed and opened their first railroads in the 1830s and 1840s, following the first run of a steam train in France in late 1829. In the 1850s, trains continued to expand across Europe, with many influenced by or purchases of American locomotive designs. Other European countries pursued their own distinct designs. Around the world, steam locomotives grew larger and more powerful throughout the rest of the century as technology advanced.

Trains first entered service in South America, Africa, and Asia through construction by imperial powers, which starting in the 1840s built railroads to solidify control of their colonies and transport cargo for export. In Japan, which was never colonized, railroads first arrived in the early 1870s. By 1900, railroads were operating on every continent besides uninhabited Antarctica.

New technologies

Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s.

Even as steam locomotive technology continued to improve, inventors in Germany started work on alternative methods for powering trains. Werner von Siemens built the first train powered by electricity in 1879, and went on to pioneer electric trams. Another German inventor, Rudolf Diesel, constructed the first diesel engine in the 1890s, though the potential of his invention to power trains was not realized until decades later. Between 1897 and 1903, tests of experimental electric locomotives on the Royal Prussian Military Railway in Germany demonstrated they were viable, setting speed records in excess of 160 kilometers per hour 100 mph.

The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam.

Early gas powered doodlebug self-propelled railcars entered service on railroads in the first decade of the 1900s. Experimentation with diesel and gas power continued, culminating in the German Flying Hamburger in 1933, and the influential American EMD FT in 1939. These successful diesel locomotives showed that diesel power was superior to steam, due to lower costs, ease of maintenance, and better reliability. Meanwhile, Italy developed an extensive network of electric trains during the first decades of the 20th century, driven by that country's lack of significant coal reserves.

Dieselization and increased competition

World War II brought great destruction to existing railroads across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Following the war's conclusion in 1945, nations which had suffered extensive damage to their railroad networks took the opportunity provided by Marshall Plan funds or economic assistance from the USSR and Comecon, for nations behind the Iron Curtain and advances in technology to convert their trains to diesel or electric power. France, Russia, Switzerland, and Japan were leaders in adopting widespread electrified railroads, while other nations focused primarily on dieselization. By 1980, the majority of the world's steam locomotives had been retired, though they continued to be used in parts of Africa and Asia, along with a few holdouts in Europe and South America. China was the last country to fully dieselize, due to its abundant coal reserves; steam locomotives were used to haul mainline trains as late as 2005 in Inner Mongolia.

Bus

Regular intercity bus services by steam-powered buses were pioneered in England in the 1830s by Walter Hancock and by associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, among others, running reliable services over road conditions which were too hazardous for horse-drawn transportation.

The first mechanically propelled omnibus appeared on the streets of London on 22 April 1833. Steam carriages were much less likely to overturn, they travelled faster than horse-drawn carriages, they were much cheaper to run, and caused much less damage to the road surface due to their wide tyres.

However, the heavy road tolls imposed by the turnpike trusts discouraged steam road vehicles and left the way clear for the horse bus companies, and from 1861 onwards, harsh legislation virtually eliminated mechanically propelled vehicles from the roads of Great Britain for 30 years, the Locomotive Act 1861 imposing restrictive speed limits on road locomotives of 5 mph 8.0 km/h in towns and cities, and 10 mph 16 km/h in the country.

Trolleybuses

Main article: Trolleybus

World's first trolleybus, Berlin 1882

In parallel to the development of the bus was the invention of the electric trolleybus, typically fed through trolley poles by overhead wires. The Siemens brothers, William in England and Ernst Werner in Germany, collaborated on the development of the trolleybus concept. Sir William first proposed the idea in an article to the Journal of the Society of Arts in 1881 as an ...arrangement by which an ordinary omnibus...would have a suspender thrown at intervals from one side of the street to the other, and two wires hanging from these suspenders; allowing contact rollers to run on these two wires, the current could be conveyed to the tram-car, and back again to the dynamo machine at the station, without the necessity of running upon rails at all.

The first such vehicle, the Electromote, was made by his brother Ernst Werner von Siemens and presented to the public in 1882 in Halensee, Germany. Although this experimental vehicle fulfilled all the technical criteria of a typical trolleybus, it was dismantled in the same year after the demonstration.

Max Schiemann opened a passenger-carrying trolleybus in 1901 near Dresden, in Germany. Although this system operated only until 1904, Schiemann had developed what is now the standard trolleybus current collection system. In the early days, a few other methods of current collection were used. Leeds and Bradford became the first cities to put trolleybuses into service in Great Britain on 20 June 1911.

Motor buses

In Siegerland, Germany, two passenger bus lines ran briefly, but unprofitably, in 1895 using a six-passenger motor carriage developed from the 1893 Benz Viktoria. Another commercial bus line using the same model Benz omnibuses ran for a short time in 1898 in the rural area around Llandudno, Wales.

Germany's Daimler Motors Corporation also produced one of the earliest motor-bus models in 1898, selling a double-decker bus to the Motor Traction Company which was first used on the streets of London on 23 April 1898. The vehicle had a maximum speed of 18 km/h 11.2 mph and accommodated up to 20 passengers, in an enclosed area below and on an open-air platform above. With the success and popularity of this bus, DMG expanded production, selling more buses to companies in London and, in 1899, to Stockholm and Speyer. Daimler Motors Corporation also entered into a partnership with the British company Milnes and developed a new double-decker in 1902 that became the market standard.

The first mass-produced bus model was the B-type double-decker bus, designed by Frank Searle and operated by the London General Omnibus Company—it entered service in 1910, and almost 3,000 had been built by the end of the decade. Hundreds of them saw military service on the Western Front during the First World War.

The Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company, which rapidly became a major manufacturer of buses in the US, was founded in Chicago in 1923 by John D. Hertz. General Motors purchased a majority stake in 1925 and changed its name to the Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company. GM purchased the balance of the shares in 1943 to form the GM Truck and Coach Division.

Models expanded in the 20th century, leading to the widespread introduction of the contemporary recognizable form of full-sized buses from the 1950s. The AEC Routemaster, developed in the 1950s, was a pioneering design and remains an icon of London to this day. The innovative design used lightweight aluminium and techniques developed in aircraft production during World War II. As well as a novel weight-saving integral design, it also introduced for the first time on a bus independent front suspension, power steering, a fully automatic gearbox, and power-hydraulic braking.

Cruise ship

With the advent of large passenger jet aircraft in the 1960s, intercontinental travelers switched from ships to planes, sending the ocean liner trade into a terminal decline. Certain characteristics of older ocean liners made them unsuitable for cruising duties, such as high fuel consumption, deep draught preventing them from entering shallow ports, and cabins often windowless designed to maximize passenger numbers rather than comfort. In the late 1950s and 1960s, ships such as Holland America Line's SS Rotterdam 1959, the French Line's SS France 1961, and Cunard Line's RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 1969 were designed to serve the dual purposes of ocean liner during the northern hemisphere summer months and cruise ship in the winter, incorporating doors and baffles that could be open or closed to divide classes or open the ship to one class, wherein all passengers received roughly the same quality berthing and most of the same facilities. Passengers in cabins in certain grades on the Queen Elizabeth 2 had access only to certain dining rooms.

Sovereign of the Seas was the first of Royal Caribbean International's Sovereign-class cruise ships.
Ocean liner services almost ceased in the 1970s and 1980s. The Rotterdam was put on permanent cruise service in 1968, while the France at the time the largest passenger vessel in the world was mothballed in 1974, sold to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1979, and after major renovations relaunched as SS Norway in 1980, thus becoming the first mega-cruise ship. The main exception was Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2: although being put on more cruises, she maintained the regular transatlantic crossing tradition throughout the year, but with a stronger focus on leisure passengers, catering to a niche market of those who appreciated the several days at sea. International celebrities were hired to perform acts on board, along with cabarets, and with the addition of a casino and other entertainment amenities, the crossing was advertised as a vacation in itself.

The 1977–1986 television series The Love Boat helped to popularize the concept as a romantic opportunity for couples. Industry experts credit the series with increasing interest in the cruise industry, especially for those that weren't newlyweds or senior citizens, and for the resulting demand to spur investment in new ships instead of conversions. The influence was particularly notable for Princess Cruises, a line that partnered with the series and received a great deal of attention as a result.

Carnival Destiny later renamed Carnival Sunshine
Contemporary cruise ships built in the late 1980s and later, such as the Sovereign class which broke the size record held for decades by Norway, showed characteristics of size once reserved for ocean liners. The Sovereign-class ships were the first megaships to be built specifically for the mass cruising market. They also were the first series of cruise ships to include a multi-story lobby with a glass elevator and had a single deck devoted entirely to cabins with private balconies, instead of oceanview cabins. Other cruise lines soon launched ships with similar attributes, such as the Fantasy class, leading up to the Panamax-type Vista class, designed such that two-thirds of the oceanview staterooms have balconies. As the veranda suites were particularly lucrative for cruise lines, something which was lacking in older ocean liners, recent cruise ships have been designed to maximize such amenities and have been described as balcony-laden floating condominiums.

Oasis of the Seas with a six-deck-high outdoor area
Until 1975–1980, cruises offered shuffleboard, deck chairs, "drinks with umbrellas and little else for a few hundred passengers". After 1980, they offered increasing amenities. As of 2010, city-sized ships have dozens of amenities.

There have been nine or more new cruise ships added every year since 2001, including the 11 members of the aforementioned Vista class, and all at 100,000 GT or greater. The only actual ocean liner to be completed in recent years has been Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Following the retirement of her running mate Queen Elizabeth 2 in November 2008, Queen Mary 2 is the only liner operating on scheduled transatlantic service, though she also sees significant service on cruise routes.

Air travel

Air Travel, originally named Hongtu Airlines, received preliminary approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China CAAC on 26 March 2015. In October 2015, the airline's livery was revealed. The red color represents the famous red earth of Dongchuan District in Yunnan Province; in fact, Hongtu in the airline's name, is a transliteration of Chinese: 红土; lit. red soil.

On 22 December 2015, Hongtu Airlines took delivery of its first aircraft, an Airbus A321 originally destined for UTair Aviation. The aircraft is named Dai after the Dai people, an ethnic minority in Yunnan Province. Hongtu Airlines held an inauguration ceremony on 20 May 2016 and began flights the following day, with the inaugural flight operating between Kunming and Nanchang.

The airline underwent a branding change in 2018: its English name became Air Travel, whilst retaining the name 红土航空; 'red soil airline' in Chinese. The company then changed its local name to Hunan Airlines 湖南航空公司 in 2021 following its move to Hunan Province, but retained the name Air Travel in English.

Corporate affairs

Hongtu Airlines is headquartered near Changsha Huanghua International Airport. The airline is a joint venture between Kunming Evergreen Financing 30%; local entrepreneur Tang Longcheng 20%; and five other companies, each holding 10%. The parties have invested a total of CNY600 million USD96.6 million in the airline.

Friday, 4 April 2025

Tourism

In 1941, Hunziker and Kraft defined tourism as the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity. In 1976, the Tourism Society of England's definition was: Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to destinations outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes. In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of particular activities chosen and undertaken outside the home.

In 1994, the United Nations identified three forms of tourism in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics:

Domestic tourism, involving residents of the given country traveling only within this country

Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling into the given country

Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling to another country

Other groupings derived from the above grouping:

National tourism, a combination of domestic and outbound tourism

Regional tourism, a combination of domestic and inbound tourism

International tourism, a combination of inbound and outbound tourism

Tourism has reached new dimensions with the emerging industry of space tourism, as well as the transoceanic cruise ship industry.

The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context, travel has a similar definition to tourism but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited. By contrast, traveller is often used as a sign of distinction. The sociology of tourism has studied the cultural values underpinning these distinctions and their implications for class relations.

The first sunrise seen from the torii gate on the sea, which is considered a sacred place Ōarai in Japan

There are many varieties of tourism. Of those types, there are multiple forms of outdoor-oriented tourism. Outdoor tourism is generally categorized into nature, eco, and adventure tourism NEAT. These categories share many similarities but also possess definite and unique characteristics. Nature tourism generally encompasses tourism activities that would take place outside. Nature tourism appeals to a large audience of tourists and many may not know they are participating in this form of tourism. This type of tourism has a low barrier to entry and is accessible to a large population. Ecotourism focuses on education, maintaining a social responsibility for the community and the environment, as well as centering economic growth around the local economy. Weaver describes ecotourism as sustainable nature-based tourism. Ecotourism is more specific than nature tourism and works toward accomplishing a specific goal through the outdoors. Finally, we have adventure tourism. Adventure tourism is the most extreme of the categories and includes participation in activities and sports that require a level of skill or experience, risk, and physical exertion. Adventure tourism often appeals less to the general public than nature and ecotourism and tends to draw in individuals who partake in such activities with limited marketing.

Thursday, 3 April 2025

Travel

Travel in the Middle Ages offered hardships and challenges, though it was important to the economy and to society. The wholesale sector depended on merchants dealing with/through caravans or sea-voyagers, end-user retailing often demanded the services of many itinerant peddlers wandering from village to hamlet, gyrovagues wandering monks wide in various crusades and in sundry other wars. Pilgrimages were common in both the European and Islamic world and involved streams of travelers both locally and internationally.

In the late 16th century, it became fashionable for young European aristocrats and wealthy upper-class men to travel to significant European cities as part of their education in the arts and literature. This was known as the Grand Tour, and included cities such as London, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. However, the French Revolution brought with it the end of the Grand Tour.

Travel by water often provided more comfort and speed than land-travel, at least until the advent of a network of railways in the 19th century. Travel for the purpose of tourism is reported to have started around this time when people began to travel for fun as travel was no longer a hard and challenging task. This was capitalized on by people like Thomas Cook selling tourism packages where trains and hotels were booked together. Airships and airplanes took over much of the role of long-distance surface travel in the 20th century, notably after the Second World War where there was a surplus of both aircraft and pilots. Air travel has become so ubiquitous in the 21st century that one woman, Alexis Alford, visited all 196 countries before the age of 21.

Geographic types

Travel may be local, regional, national domestic or international. In some countries, non-local internal travel may require an internal passport, while international travel typically requires a passport and visa. Tours are a common type of travel. Examples of travel tours are expedition cruises, small group tours, and river cruises.

Safety

See also: Air safety and Automobile safety

Travelers in a British Airways 747 airplane. Air travel is a common means of transport.

MS Skania ferry in the port of Szczecin

Authorities emphasize the importance of taking precautions to ensure travel safety. When traveling abroad, the odds favor a safe and incident-free trip, however, travelers can be subject to difficulties, crime and violence. Some safety considerations include being aware of one's surroundings, avoiding being the target of a crime, leaving copies of one's passport and itinerary information with trusted people, obtaining medical insurance valid in the country being visited and registering with one's national embassy when arriving in a foreign country. Many countries do not recognize drivers' licenses from other countries; however most countries accept international driving permits. Automobile insurance policies issued in one's own country are often invalid in foreign countries, and it is often a requirement to obtain temporary auto insurance valid in the country being visited. It is also advisable to become oriented with the driving rules and regulations of destination countries. Wearing a seat belt is highly advisable for safety reasons; many countries have penalties for violating seatbelt laws.

There are three main statistics which may be used to compare the safety of various forms of travel based on a Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions survey in October 2000: