Travel Operators and Resorts

(1) In 1841 an English Baptist missionary named Thomas Cook arranged a railway excursion from Leicester to Loughborough for a temperance group. Three years later the railroad – the Midland Counties Railway Company – agreed to make the excursion a permanent feature if Cook would provide the passengers. He became the first travel agent, and the company he founded – Thomas Cook and Son – went on to become one of the world’s leading travel agencies with offices around the world. In the late 1950s, before the jet age, there were about 3,000 travel agents in the United States. By the late 1980s there were more than 20,000, with tens of thousands more worldwide.

(2) A travel agent is a retailer, an intermediary between the prospective traveler and all the components of a trip. Agents book and sell airline, train, bus, and ship tickets. They reserve hotel rooms and arrange for ground transportation at the destination. For these and other services they are paid a commission by those whose wares they sell. Tour operators are companies that arrange every aspect of a travel package. They bring together all the elements of a trip for travelers or for groups of travelers: plane reservations and tickets, hotel arrangements, ground transportation, entertainment, and more. All these components are sold together as a package. Travelers may deal directly with a tour company, or they may book tours through a travel agent.

(3) Today there is a great deal of overlapping between the services of travel agents and tour operators. Companies like Thomas Cook and American Express perform both services, and many independent travel agencies put together tour packages for customers. Among the other major tour companies now operating around the world are: Maupintour, Cartan, Four Winds Travel, International Weekends, Olson Travel, Hemphill-Harris Tours etc.

(4) Resorts are special-purpose destinations. They may be places in the sun to get away from winter’s cold; they may be places in the snow to enjoy skiing and other winter sports; or they may be health resorts such as Hot Springs, Arkansas, or Baden-Baden, Germany. Modern resorts have their antecedents in health spas dating back to the late Middle Ages in continental Europe and in seaside resorts that emerged in England in the 18th century. Spa is the name of a town in Belgium that has long been noted for its beneficial mineral waters. There are a great many similar towns and cities in Europe and England to which people have gone for centuries, hoping for cures for a variety of ailments. The first well-known sea resort was Brighton, England, still a popular summer vacation spot.

(Britannica Student Encyclopedia Library)

1. Определите, является ли утверждение:

Thomas Cook founded the world famous company which has many branches all over the world.

a) истинным

b) ложным

c) в тексте нет информации

2. Определите, является ли утверждение:

The function of tour operators and travel agents is to provide customers with information on habits and ways of all countries.

a) истинным

b) ложным

c) в тексте нет информации

3. Определите, является ли утверждение:

Tour operators are responsible for all points of travel program.

a) истинным

b) ложным

c) в тексте нет информации

4. Определите, является ли утверждение:

Modern resorts are situated mainly in Britain and Belgium.

a) истинным

b) ложным

c) в тексте нет информации

5. Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:

There are many popular health resorts in different European towns now.

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4

6. Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:

The work of a travel agency can be compared with that of a retailer who operates like an intermediary between the seller and the customers.

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4

7. Ответьте на вопрос:

What are the differences between travel agents and tour operators?

a) Travel agents are paid a commission by the ware seller while tour operators book tours through a travel agent.

b) Travel agents reserve hotel rooms and organize ground transportation while tour operators are responsible for entertainment and tickets.

c) Tour operators arrange trips for groups of travelers while travel agents mainly deal with individuals.

d) Tour operators are companies that sell all the elements of a trip as a package while travel agents sell various services as retailers.

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