Holidays: The Evolution of a Successful Concept

Those carefree summer days spent in the sun are something we all look up to during the year. The concept of the holiday was the invention of the British middle class in the second half of the 19th century. So how did it all begin?

BY GEORGIA DODOU

Initially it was only the aristocratic classes who were able to enjoy a vacation, spent invariably in luxury resorts designed exclusively for their own class.

A hotel room with a view of the beach. At the window, a new guest is enjoying his first sight of the landscape in which he will be spending the next few days. Rows of beach huts, like soldiers on parade; elegant pavilions and kiosks; sunloungers and striped parasols; bathers and sun-worshipers on the sand…Cut to a grand drawing room: ladies in extravagant hats, silk dresses and opulent jewelry; gentlemen in evening dress; well-behaved children in sailor suits – all exchanging greetings and small talk, observing the other guests lounging in their deep armchairs…Similar scenes are played out in the dining room and on the verandahs of the hotel, images so lush and exotic it is hard to convey their magic on the page. The cinematic masterpiece of Luchino Visconti, Death in Venice (1971), must be seen to be believed – a disquisition on the theme of beauty which far exceeds in genius the work on which it is based, the novella of the same name by the German author Thomas Mann.

The great German novelist published the original story in 1911. It describes the tragic journey towards death of its protagonist, a worshiper of ideal beauty, set against the gorgeous backdrop of Venice, symbolizing the decadent aristocratic society of the early 20th century. The story is rich in symbolism of many kinds, but what interests us here are the images it offers, and which Visconti transferred so miraculously to the cinema screen, of a luxurious holiday resort where a privileged ruling class spends its carefree vacations. Historically, the concept of the holiday is relatively recent. Initially it was only the aristocratic classes who were able to enjoy a vacation, spent invariably in luxury resorts designed exclusively for their own class. But as the industrial revolution led to the emergence of a prosperous middle class, these new aristocrats sought to imitate their social superiors, establishing their own seaside resorts where they could spend a summer vacation. At this time, in the mid-19th century, social distinctions and the segregation of the classes were still too powerful to break. A successful bourgeois might indeed have the money to enjoy the same things as a member of the upper class, but the two worlds were still kept very much apart. It took several years for this new custom of the summer holiday to become widely established, but soon more and more people in Britain – home of the capitalist revolution – were beginning to discover the many advantages of their new wealth, among them the pleasures of travel. Destinations grew more varied and numerous: from the peaks of the Alps to the coasts of the Mediterranean, from the Middle East to North Africa. Even the poorest members of society had joined in the holiday game, taking cheap vacations at nearby resorts and establishing the idea of the summer holiday as we know it today.

As with all social developments not brought on by violent change, the evolution of the holiday was gradual and occurred over many decades. When the idea of mass tourism was still in its infancy, the foundations were already being laid for the package holiday of today, thanks to a certain Thomas Cook, who in 1841 arranged for 570 persons to travel from Leicester to a rally in Larborough, chartering carriages from the British rail companies and charging the passengers one shilling each for their fare and a meal. In literature, too, travel was beginning to occupy a more prominent position, particularly in the novels of Jules Verne, which were addressed to an educated audience but proved so popular that they did much to familiarize the general public with the idea of travel, whetting ordinary people’s curiosity to see the world and go on distant adventures. Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days was published in 1872. Earlier in the century, in 1828, the first ever “travel guide” had been published, the Traveling along the Rhine from Mainz to Cologne, by J. Klein, in the famous Baedeker series, whose pioneering guides offered reliable information on travel, accommodation and what to see.

Nowadays, a summer holiday is enjoyed by all – and in fact tourism has become a key driving force in the global economy, its various manifestations often effecting a creative transformation in the landscape of the holiday destination. We have now moved on to the 2nd generation resorts, which offer a total vacation experience. Tourism has advanced from the provision of a basic accommodation infrastructure and “hotel catering” to comprehensive hospitality in environments that offer all the comforts of home, haute cuisine restaurants and alternative leisure activities designed to promote the tourist’s physical and mental health and well-being.