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By Shirajiv Sirimane

A train journey organised by a young printer by the name of Thomas Cook on July 5, 1841 led to the formation of one of the world's largest travel companies.

Ananda Godhataba

The 33 - year - old Cook, organised a 11 mile train journey of 570 people from Leicester to Loughborough charging a penny per head. The tour was organised mainly by him to gain publicity for some of his publications. He felt that organising a tour would give him good publicity by way of mouth.

But little did he know that this trip was the first organised tour in the world and it would lead to the formation of one of the world's top travel companies. Thomas Cook capitalised on the publicity and the demand he got from his first trip and conducted his first ever overseas tour in 1846 when a steamship carried excited travellers to Scotland. In 1872 he conducted the first round-the-world tour.

While on these tours he found that people would find it difficult to adapt to the change of currencies in different countries. In a bid to solve this problem in 1874 Thomas Cook created the circular note the forerunner to the travellers cheque. They were initially available in notes of 5 and 10 Pounds and today it the most frequently carried travel articles along with the passport and the air ticket.

Thomas Cook passed away on July 19, 1892 at the age of 83 but not before forming the world's largest travel agency.

The new branch at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

Today Thomas Cook AG carries 15 million customers across the globe each year, operates a fleet of 85 aircraft and has a network of 3,800 travel shops around the world. Thomas Cook group operates two core business lines; travel related service and retail foreign exchange services. The Group employs 28,000 people and its annual revenue is 8 Billion Euro.

Thomas Cook Group established its branch in Sri Lanka about 106 years ago in Fort, mainly targeting the Colombo Harbour.

In 1981 a second branch was established in Bambalapitiya. Thereafter branches were opened in quick succession - branch in Borella in 1997, in Nugegoda in 1998 and in Negombo in 2000.

Thomas Cook India purchased the Sri Lankan operation in 2001 as part of their strategy in strengthening its presence in the Asian region.

The latest additions to the Thomas Cook chain of branches are the outlets at the Bandaranaike International Airport. The local operator has its presence in the Arrivals and Departure lounges.

Currently Thomas Cook Limited in Sri Lanka employs 80 people in six locations. The local group has 100 years of experience in Sri Lanka, is IATA approved and consists of four branches. Currently the staff strength is about 73 people.

The core businesses of the Sri Lankan operation are airline ticketing, In Bound and Out Bound Tour packages and Foreign Exchange.

Thomas Cook AG, the parent company has a long-term plan of improving the In Bound activities of Thomas Cook Sri Lanka. The Company is ambitious of expanding its functions and geographical locations with the assistance of Thomas Cook India Limited and Thomas Cook AG.

CEO, Thomas Cook India Ltd, Ananda Godhataba said that they are very strong in the cooperate sector. However he said that the due to high airfares the local leisure travellers are reluctant to travel.

The former Financial Controller of the Steel Corporation, he said people do not carry traveller's cheques as they used to do. "This is mainly because of the credit card and people prefer to carry plastic rather than hard cash of travellers cheque." He said that in a bid to iron out this problem the Thomas Cook company is in the process of introducing 'Cash passport', a plastic credit card.

"When a person wants to purchases travellers cheques we will load the amount the person wants to the card and it will operate the same way a TC is used. "But it is more effective and convenient. We are hoping to introduce this card to Sri Lanka soon."

He said that a person could even withdraw money from teller machines and if the card is lost or stolen it would be replaced in 24 hours.

The CEO said that their business is expected grow even faster this year in view of the peace process. "The Thomas Cook MasterCard Travellers Cheques are accepted at over nine million establishments worldwide and encashed commission-free at all Thomas Cook foreign exchange locations worldwide. Interpayment VISA Travellers Cheques is backed by VISA - the most powerful Financial Services brand, owned and managed by 22,000 financial institutions around the world.

These are accepted at over 12 million establishments in over 200 countries and territories," he said. Since its beginning Thomas Cook has had a chequered history. In 1924 Thomas Cook & Sons became a limited company. It was taken over by the British Transport Holding Company in 1948, which made it state-owned.

The company was again privatised when in 1972 a consortium led by British Midland Bank bought it.

In 1992 West LB Bank and LTU Germany acquired it. By 1995 the Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of West LB. By 2000 Preussag and the Carlson Group of Companies also shared the ownership of Thomas Cook along with West LB. At the beginning of the new Millennium Condor and Neckermann Touristic acquired Thomas Cook Group. Subsequent to this merger Condor and Neckermann renamed itself as Thomas Cook AG. Thomas Cook AG the parent company is the second largest travel group in Germany and has two share holders, Kardstadtquelle AG - Germany's largest department store group and Lufthanza AG - Germany's national carrier, each owning 50%.

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