<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject . You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate . (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism related services to the public on behalf of suppliers such as activities, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, travel insurance, and package tours . In addition to dealing with ordinary tourists, most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to making travel arrangements for business travelers; some travel agencies specialize in commercial and business travel only . There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are located . </P> <P> The modern travel agency first appeared in the second half of the 19th century with its root in 1758 as establishment of Cox & Kings Ltd . In the year 1970, Cox & Kings the longest established travel company centered its focus on its business of travel and tourism . Lately Thomas Cook also established a chain of agencies in the last quarter of the 19th century, in association with the Midland Railway . They not only sold their own tours to the public, but in addition, represented other tour companies . Other British pioneer travel agencies were Dean & Dawson, the Polytechnic Touring Association, and the Co-operative Wholesale Society . The oldest travel agency in the United States is Brownell Travel; on 4 July 1887, Walter T. Brownell led ten travelers on a European tour, setting sail from New York on the SS Devonia . </P> <P> Travel agencies became more commonplace with the development of commercial aviation, starting in the 1920s . Originally, travel agencies largely catered to middle and upper class customers, but the post-war boom in mass - market package holidays resulted in the proliferation of travel agencies on the main streets of most British towns, catering to a working class clientele looking for a convenient way to book overseas beach holidays . </P>

When did the first travel information agency open