The Re-emergence of Victorian Holidaymaking in the twenty-first century?​
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With the everchanging travel implications of COVID-19 far more holidaymakers are choosing to stay in the UK for their summer holidays. This increase in domestic tourism has seen thousands of people head to the south coast or the rolling hills of rural Britain for some well-earned relaxation after a tumultuous period in lockdown. While these trips are a far cry from the more traditional summer vacations to the Costa del Sol or The Algarve in continental Europe, these ‘internal holidays’ have a very Victorian feel to them. Could one of the impacts of this pandemic be the re-emergence of Victorian holidaymaking in the twenty-first century?
The Bank Holiday Act 1871 created several new fixed holidays in the English calendar. Along with Good Friday and Christmas Day, which were both already considered days of rest, the Victorians added: Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Boxing Day, and the First Monday in August to the list of days off for all Englishmen. With these new holidays and the more accessible rail links the middle-class were able to flock to seaside and escape the smog ridden cities which they worked in. Towns like Margate, Southend, Morecambe, and Scarborough, among others, became popular costal destinations for these holiday makers as they migrated to the beaches for some sunbathing and a dip in the sea.
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As well as the increase in domestic seaside trips the mid-nineteenth century also saw the advent of the ‘package holiday’. In 1841 Thomas Cook took 485 people on a what he called an excursion. This day trip took the group on a train journey from Leicester to Loughborough. They were accompanied by a band, and once they arrived in Loughborough there were games and they were treated to tea in the park, before the train took them home in the evening. All of this cost the customer just one shilling. Thomas Cook’s idea of paying for a holiday as a package deal was unsurprisingly very successful and nowadays an excursion with his company is sure to cost you far more than one shilling. Cook’s initial success meant that he continued to plan different excursions and 15 years later he began taking groups across Europe, mostly to the Netherlands. Before long he not only had trips heading to North America, but in 1869 he was offering package deals that would take groups up the River Nile in steamboats!
These types of holidays may not be too dissimilar to the tourism this summer. Perhaps in the coming years the middle-class Victorian pursuit of an English seaside getaway and the idea of tour groups going on tightly planned excursions may be the only safe ways to travel. The regimented package holiday facilitates social distancing and would greatly limit the interactions with locals from the desired destination. These bubbled holidays would allow large scale international travel and those areas which rely heavily on tourism could still have visitors; this would of course help a lot of businesses and prevent further damage to those who are so desperate for summer trade. That is providing both the tourists and the hosts were clear to follow the correct procedures regarding cleanliness in order to prevent spreading the disease. This holiday would have its drawbacks for those who were looking for the authentic experience or those who wanted to find something off the beaten track. However, most people would surely jump at the opportunity to ride a steamboat up the River Nile this summer on a package holiday with Thomas Cook.
With the majority of countries outside of Europe still not making it on the foreign office’s travel corridor list the appeal of a British holiday is also very obvious. Domestic tourism would also bring several economic benefits to the area and local business who must have been fearing the worst in April are sure to be rubbing their hands together at the prospect of city dwellers travelling to their towns. However, this mass exodus from densely packed cities will be alarming to locals. In Cornwall residents of St. Mawes have already raised concerns to the BBC over the impacts a lack of social distancing could bring as the summer holidays continue. The internal travel in the UK does have the potential to spread the disease as those who are asymptomatic move around the country. However, if the correct government guidelines are followed then this spread could be limited and virtually no one would be affected by this. The concern of the people of St. Mawes is understandable, but if tourists are responsible and respectful when travelling then a second wave of the disease can be avoided. Ultimately, if all parties are responsible then domestic tourism over the summer would have a wide range of positives for all involved, both socially and economically. The Victorian pursuit of a seaside getaway is clearly not out of the question for travellers this summer.
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In future years ,the 2020 summer will surely be a memorable one because of the new unusual travel arrangements for those who are lucky enough to be able to go on holiday. The options which are open to them are clearly limited and the advice from the UK government seems to be everchanging as they attempt to balance safety and the economic impact of coronavirus. The two most popular holidays this summer hark back to the late nineteenth century, so perhaps in 2020 we are witnessing the start of the re-emergence of traditional Victorian holidaymaking.