One of the world’s great divides is between people who can afford to go on holiday and those who can’t. Asser Khattab, a Syrian refugee in France, recalls, “I grew up surrounded by people who have never experienced the joy of peaceful tranquillity, the insouciance of a summer holiday or the option of disconnecting for a few hours a day to indulge in a variety of pastimes; I thought that this was normal.” And it always was normal, for most humans since history began.
That’s now changing. This year is forecast to be a record year for international travel. Barring another pandemic, numbers should keep rising after that, as billions of people finally acquire disposable income and discover the life-altering experience of going on holiday.
A lucky few were already vacationing in ancient times, when rich Romans kept seaside villas on the Gulf of Naples. In Victorian Britain, millworkers went to the beach every Wakes Week. From the 1840s, the coming of the railways began democratising international travel. Suddenly, ordinary Britons could take “excursions” to Paris or to see the battlefield at Waterloo. These early travellers mostly travelled in tour groups to save money and enjoy the protection of guides who could mediate strange languages and cultures. Chinese tourists in the 2000s did likewise.