The PTA: Promoting Swiss Tours, 1888-1939

This research examines the development from educational to commercial tourism in Britain between the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century by questioning whether this reflected a transformed understanding of the role of travel within society. It focuses on the Polytechnic Touring Association (PTA), a London-based originally philanthropic travel organisation that became a commercial firm. During this period the PTA moved from the project of contributing to the education of citizens to the market-led imperative of ‘harnessing’ a consumer desire. In examining this transformation via the PTA’s changing approach to the visual promotion of its Swiss tours, we suggest that the development of the tourism industry in Britain should also be explored in relation to changing ideas about travel’s contribution to social formation.