We take travel and the hospitality industry almost as a given – whether it be travel by air, rail or road as well as the service industry of providing fro accommodations. Where and how did this all arise in terms of history and historical records?
Indeed many historians and anthologists consider travel for trade and commerce to be a common well established history in the histories of civilization’s in mankind. Civilizations of great power, long duration and extensive dominions were by and large known for their sophisticated levels of commerce. Along with travel for commerce grew travel for pleasure or enjoyment itself. The ancient societies of Greece m Egypt and Rome openly encouraged pleasure travel by providing necessary ways and means. With such support, travel contributed to the success of each of these great empires.
The ever increasing specialization of labor within ancient civilizations fostered the growth of travel. As ancient communities grew in size, the tasks and roles of the population became ever more specialized and skilled. This made it possible for communities to develop an array of products that increased in quality in each generation. Craft persons honed their skills and passed them along to family members or others willing to learn. Such division of skills meant that people needed to exchange goods to survive. For example a craftsmen or craftsperson busy producing pottery products would not have time to plant and harvest crops for food. This scarcity of time required by craft persons to obtain the necessities through barter and trade with a person who specialized in planting and harvesting crops.
This exchange of products and currency required travel. Caravans and trade expeditions moved people, products and even ideas between entirely different cultures. The oceans provided the great major routes of travel for the cultures centered in the Mediterranean – particularly the Greeks, Egyptian and Roman empires. Toads too, supported the swift deployment of military power as well as facilitating the exchange of good over what might be considered previously vast distances. Indeed over time, what were foot trails along the Mediterranean or even in the Manitoba prairie became major overland trade routes. As these routes were maintained and improved, they became the basis for extensive road systems.
Based upon the history and quality of these road systems, it can be assumed that historically travel became a most important part of commerce, government as well as cultural exchanges during the rule of the Roman Empire. Now the stage was set for what became the service industries of the hospitality trade to be developed. In the later years of the Ronan Empire, the road system began to include inns, stables for animals. Travel became even more predictable and easy to accomplish with the introduction of simple maps and mapping technologies.
What resulted was that onwards travel as well as travel and transportation technologies improved to support commerce and trade over long and longer distances. This included travel for all types – whether it was for trade and commerce, communications, military travel and even simple basic travel for pleasure and enjoyment/ it can be said that war itself increased the growth of travel. The victors would establish communication routes back to the home business office. Travel would thus blossom with those in power and their new citizens as people and trade would increase and even blossom with these realms.
Thus the basis of our travel, hospitality service industries – be they travel means themselves – be they air, road, ship or railway, the promotion and the development of the food and lodging service industries all can said to be the result of trade and commence between people and groups of people all seeking different and better quality good and ultimately man’s trade and commerce.