15 Oct Tour Is Easy Today
Learning about history is an exciting thing and 2016 marks 100 years since the organization of the National Park Service. In Ken Burns’ documentary series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Burns tells the story responsible for the development of these national treasures. Stephen Mather (first director of the National Park Service) desired to attract tons of people to the parks, as stated in Episode 4:
“[Mather] realized that until more people started showing up, Congress would never make more parks, or even support the existing ones.” There could never be several tourists for Stephen Mather,’ Horace Albright remembered. ‘He wanted as many as conceivable to take joy in his ‘treasures.” Mather and Albright wanted to try almost anything to attract publicity and lure more visitors. They authorized golf courses and zoos at different parks, and even proposed Yosemite as a best setting for the Winter Olympics. When a new hotel was to be built in Yosemite, Mather scheduled the first charge of dynamite to be detonated via remote control by the Secretary of the Interior, sitting at his desk thousands of miles away.”
It’s a bit nostalgic to imagine what it would have been like to visit the parks when they weren’t as trafficked as they are today. In the beginning of the national parks journey, visitors came by horse and buggy, and the railroad also played a huge role in bringing folks to see these wonders of nature.
The world of travel and tourism has exploded in comparison to what was happening in 1900. While there are several factors that have contributed to this change, here are just a few that we see that have made today’s tourism industry boom like never before.
Firstly, there’s no doubt that transportation mediums have made it simpler to do so. In our time where air travel is commonplace, it’s hard to imagine a time when the railroad was the new up-and-coming thing and paved roads weren’t common. But there was a time when that held true, and traveling by rail was a “quick” alternative to horses. Today, traveling by train seems archaic and slow in contrast, when we’re used to big jetliners filled with people, traveling at speeds that would have seemed miraculous to those who lived to see the Wright brothers’ initial flight make the headlines.
Aside from upgrades in transportation channels, travel is also more economical than it has ever been. It used to be that only the rich could have enough for to go and see distant places. Today, it’s so easy to find discount flights, get a crazy deal on a cruise, or find a sweet package on a hotel and car combo. As travel has become more commonplace, prices have reduced, making it more affordable for everyone.
One more reason? It has never been much easier to discover of other locations all over the world. It’s a cinch to share information about destinations all over the globe because of the advent of the Internet. For tour operators and travel agencies, uploading glossy photographs of lavish accommodations and relaxing vacation spots can go a long way to motivating folks to reach into their wallets and invest in a trip.
Instagram and Facebook have become today’s equivalent of yesterday’s postcard. Instead of taking the time to individually send notes to friends, people post pictures of delicious meals, a lounge chair on the beach, or hiking and biking in national parks.
Because we specialize in group travel, we know that we can accommodate everyone in comfort and class, and it’s important to us that our service reflects the quality standard you’ve set for your business. If you’ve got an upcoming tour and need to secure a vehicle for the group, call and reserve our charter bus rental Houston, Texas today!