When was the first travel agency in my country established and what was its name?

Chen Guangfu, the founder of Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, feels that foreigners have invested heavily in China and run our country's domestic tourism industry. The most shameful thing is that the Chinese people have resigned themselves to lagging behind. After much consideration, I decided to set up a Chinese-owned travel agency.

In August 1923, the Travel Department of Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank was officially established, and later branches were set up in various places. Chen Guangfu was full of enthusiasm, and in the spirit of fighting against foreigners and winning glory for the country, he worked hard on business policies. With the purpose of "serving the society", he established the 24-character policy of carrying forward the country's glory, serving travel, promoting scenic spots, improving food and accommodation, committing to freight, and promoting culture, and created a difficult entrepreneurial path for the Tourism Department in the early days.

The Travel Department is embossed with a blue-edged five-pointed red star with the word "brigade" in yellow as its logo. This is based on the tradition that ancient people who lost their way could rely on the position of the stars to determine their direction. But it also shows the spirit of the Ministry of Tourism’s responsibility to guide travel. The staff of the Travel Department are wearing uniforms, with the "brigade" logo on their caps shining brightly, and the five-star red light shining brightly, which is quite eye-catching.

Chen Guangfu requires his employees to do the following to passengers: First, greet them with a smile. To change the common problem of the rigid appearance of Chinese people at that time, "make people feel good when they meet"; secondly, "face and hands are clean and clothes are neat"; thirdly, "create a lively atmosphere on the counter", saying: "Customer's business, No matter how big or small it is, that is, a hundred yuan or a dollar, once the customer comes, you can already thank him for his kindness... You don't have to be eager for immediate profits in business. The most important thing is to create a lively atmosphere for the customers at the counter. Benefit must also be taken...".

The early business of the Travel Department was mainly passenger transportation, and its services included many services, such as selling domestic and foreign train and ship tickets, booking cabins, handling procedures for going abroad, transporting luggage, and issuing traveler's checks, etc. . Handling these matters is complicated and has little profit, and is even purely compulsory. It is a business that foreign travel agencies disdain, which reflects the characteristics of the tourism department of "serving the society". The tourism department gives special stamped tickets to all passengers who come to buy tickets. Clip as a souvenir. In order to meet the special requirements of passengers and maintain the credibility of the department, sometimes even the manager drives his own car to purchase tickets on behalf of customers. Chen Guangfu has won many tourists with his service attitude of "people strive for short-term benefits, I strive for long-term achievements, others find it trivial, but I would rather be cumbersome".

In order to facilitate development, the Tourism Department moved to No. 420 Sichuan Road in January 1924. On June 1, 1927, the Ministry of Tourism set up its own business and changed its name to "China Travel Service". After registration and approval from the Ministry of Transportation of the National Government, it received the No. 1 travel license. At the same time, it strengthened business management and increased service items. In the autumn of 1929, when my country's civil aviation was first launched, China Travel Service began to sell air tickets for passengers.

China Travel Service has successively entered into mutually beneficial cooperation agreements with famous travel agencies in Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan and other countries. Organizing group tours is one of China Travel Service's main businesses. To this end, a Tourism Department was established to strengthen guidance on tourism business. The tourism programs are diverse and colorful, ranging from long and short to far and near. The older ones include the South China Tour Group organized by the Shanghai Headquarters in December 1933 and November 1936, and the five-province tour group of Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Guangxi, and Guangdong organized by the Shanghai Branch in April 1937; the shorter ones include the 1924 The spring tour to Hangzhou and the autumn Haining tide-watching group are held every year. Others include Huishan Lake Tour, Chaoshan Plum Exploration, Fuchun River Tour, and tours of Mogan Mountain, Lushan Mountain, Qingdao, Huangshan Mountain, and Five Mountains, etc. Its scope is so wide that it starts from the Great Wall in the north, reaches Baiyue in the south, ends at Haiyu in the east, and reaches Guizhou and Yunnan in the west. In addition, China Travel Service has organized many sightseeing tours for tourists to Japan and Germany.

Since August 1935, the Ministry of Tourism has also sponsored a regular tour group - "China Travel Service Tour Group" - aimed at promoting collective travel and enjoying the scenic spots and scenery of the motherland. Participating members can travel at discounted prices and purchase publications published by China Travel Service. The head office has specially prepared rooms for members to gather, have fun, and communicate with each other. By the spring of 1937, the number of members increased from 150 at the beginning to more than 900. Hosting important groups and serving gatherings is also an important business of China Travel Service. All large-scale domestic and foreign academic conferences, expositions and sports games held in China will inevitably require China Travel Service personnel to participate in services. Among them, the famous one is that on November 1, 1928, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Nanjing National Government held the "Chinese Domestic Products Exhibition" on Xinpuyutang Road, South City, Shanghai. It lasted for 2 months and had nearly a hundred exhibitors. China Travel Service and Bank of Shanghai were both present. An office will be set up at the venue. China Travel Service also printed the book "Guide to Domestic Products" and distributed it widely. In addition to answering travel-related inquiries, it also provides car rental facilities for visitors from the concessions and the northern city. The next year, when the West Lake Expo was held in Hangzhou, China Travel Service also invested a lot of material and manpower. China Travel Service participated in hosting important groups, such as the "Lytton Investigation Team" sent by the League of Nations in 1932 due to Japan's invasion of my country's three eastern provinces.