Holiday memories

The first commercial flight was made on January 1st, 1914.

A Benoist flying boat transported a paying passenger from St Petersburg to Tampa, Florida. The flight lasted just 23 minutes, but it marked the beginning of an industry that would change the world.

This era also saw a number of other firsts: the first modern British passport issued in 1915, and the first non-stop transatlantic flight four years later.

The Holidays With Pay Act was passed in 1938.

The Act guaranteed regular annual holiday time for all workers in the UK – previously, holidays were generally considered a luxury for the rich. Around this time, Billy Butlin opened his first holiday camp at Ingoldmells, near Skegness, promising "a week's holiday for a week's pay".

The first Douglas DC-3, a plane that revolutionised the air transport industry, was also produced in this era. Its dual-propeller design cut flight times by around a third, and 80 years later, many are still in use.

The International Air Transport Association was founded in 1945.

The organisation, which today represents over 250 airlines and 84% of air traffic, was founded in Cuba, Havana. It was a major milestone in the development of a global travel industry, overseeing safety, addressing competition concerns and advising governments on policy.

In the UK, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 was passed, and the country's first ten National Parks – today a major source of tourism - were created.

Over a million Brits went abroad in 1950.

Travelling abroad was easier and more affordable than it had ever been, partly thanks to Horizon Travel offering the first package holiday to include air travel. The package, which flew Brits from Gatwick to Corsica, proved a huge success and paved the way for many similar products.

Overseas travel continued to boom in the 1950s. In 1957, the term "Costa Blanca" was coined by BEA to promote a 200km stretch of Spanish coastline, marking the beginning of a long British love affair with the region.

The first in-flight feature film was screened in 1961.

As flights became longer, airlines needed to keep passengers entertained. In 1961 a new 16mm film system was developed for in-flight movies, and By Love Possessed became the first ever feature film to be screened on a regular commercial flight.

In 1968, Club 18-30 was founded by the Horizon Group, offering cheap package deals to young, free and single travellers. Meanwhile, the Development of Tourism Act 1969 established tourist boards for England, Scotland and Wales.

Package holidays grew and grew – until the market collapsed in 1974.

Nearly 50,000 tourists were left stranded as Court Line, one of the UK's biggest airlines, dramatically went bankrupt. The collapse had a huge impact on confidence in package holidays – although it did persuade the Association of British Travel Agents to set up a fund to insure against future collapses.

In 1976, the supersonic superstar Concorde entered service, making its first flight from London to Bahrain.

Ryanair, the UK's first no-frills airline, was founded in 1985.

The low-cost airline model, first established by Pacific Northwest in the USA, came to British airspace for the first time. Shortly afterwards, the number of holidays abroad taken in the UK surpassed 20 million. Truly affordable air travel had arrived.

Deregulation of EU aviation also began - an important factor in the development of low-cost airlines. It allowed airlines to set up bases anywhere in Europe.

The 1990 EU Package Travel Directive gave new rights to travellers.

Implemented in the UK as the Package Travel Regulations 1992, the rules protected consumers from travel company collapses, and gave them a right to seek compensation if their holiday was not as advertised.

The Channel Tunnel opened in 1994, offering Brits their first ever road route to the continent. The Eurostar train service followed shortly afterwards.

The first online booking was made in 1995.

Expedia and Thomas Cook Online were among the world's first successful online travel agencies. With tickets, guidebooks and currency all just a click away, the internet was a revolution in the way we plan, book and pay for our holidays, putting more power in the hands of the consumer than ever before.

Another major change was the introduction of the Euro in 1999, simplifying inter-European travel by bringing a single common currency to member countries.

The world's first space tourist went into orbit in 2001.

Businessman Dennis Tito paid Mircorp $20 million for an eight-day trip into orbit, creating the concept of space tourism as he did so. While still prohibitively expensive for most people, today companies like Virgin Galactic are working on ways to drive the price down.

In 2007 the first "super plane", an Airbus A380 capable of holding 853 passengers, entered commercial service. Airlines also began offering passengers a freer experience as electronic ticketing and self check-in became widespread.

In 2012, the number of tourists around the world topped 1 billion for the first time.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, one-seventh of the world's population travelled the globe in 2012. By 2030, this is predicted to rise to 1.8 billion – around a quarter of the expected global population.

Tourism keeps growing – and changing – all the time. Growing awareness of humanity's impact on the planet has encouraged the growth of movements such as eco-tourism and sustainable modes of travel.