Page 19 - Tourism The International Business

1. Tourism: its historical development

Exhibit 6: Chateau Frontenac,
Quebec. (Courtesy Cunard.)

As America grew, each town sought to have its own Tremont House to symbolize how successful and prosperous
it was.
By the twentieth century, as more people traveled, the nature of the hotel industry changed. The opening of the
Buffalo Statler signaled the beginning of the commercial hotel concept. The hotel's slogan was "a room and a bath
for a dollar and a half". The Great Depression brought the travel industry to a virtual halt, until after World War II.
Motels. Following World War II, peacetime prosperity saw the means to travel spread to more and more
people. Business people traveled by car rather than by train, and whole families were taking vacations. As middle

America took off in the automobile a new class of motor hotels or motels, sprang up to cater to their needs.
However, the quality of these "mom and pop" operations was spotty.
One traveler who decided to do something about it was Kemmons Wilson. On a vacation trip with his family he
found cramped, uncomfortable rooms, extra charges for children, and less than adequate restaurants. In 1952, he
opened a motel that would be the first Holiday Inn. It had a swimming pool, air conditioning, a restaurant on the
premises, a telephone in every room, free ice, dog kennels, free parking and baby sitters available. As occupancy
increased in motels, it decreased in hotels.

Exhibit 7: Present-day motel—Hururu.
(Courtesy New Zealand Tourist & Publicity Office.)

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