Although the earliest hotels date to the eighteenth century, their growth on any scale occurred only in the following century when the railways created sufficiently large markets to help make large hotels possible.
During this period a large number of hotels grew up at important designations. The hotels were developed along the main railways and highway routes in major towns.
Substantial development of the hotels thus awaited the volume and the type of traffic only the railways could bring. With the development of railways systems in many other countries within and outside Europe, the number of hotels also increased.
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These hotels catered to the increasing volume of traffic. The 1860s also saw the introduction of Thomas Cook’s railway and hotel coupons.
Starting in 1868, Cook arranged regular circular tours of Switzerland and northern Italy from England. By the 1890s, 1,200 hotels throughout the world accepted hotel coupons.
Thus, we find that railways greatly influenced the development of hotels during the early twentieth century. The demand for accommodation of tourists was thus met by a variety of facilities ranging from inns, taverns, private houses and hotels.
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The main changes in the demand for tourist accommodation have come about from changes in tourist transportation and in the popularity of different forms of holidays.
After the introduction of the motor car and the aircraft, a large number of hotels sprang up at various tourist areas and destinations. The growth of hotels continued until the 1950s. Hotels as a unit of accommodation dominated the scene all over the world.