Tourism

The Victorians were great travellers, and the expansion of the railways in the 1850s opened up the remoter parts of Great Britain. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited the Isle of Man in 1848, and were quickly followed by the gentry who came to the island in search of fresh air and escape from the unhealthy polluted industrial cities.

Holiday crowds throng Douglas promenade during the 1930s

Rising wages, along with the growth of Wakes Weeks, when whole towns across northern England would virtually shut down, meant that for the first time the working classes could enjoy an annual holiday.

For the Isle of Man this meant an explosion of hotels, guest houses, and the world’s first holiday camp, Cunningham’s. The holiday trade was the mainstay of the Island’s economy until the 1960s, when cheap air travel to the Mediterranean sounded the death knell for mass tourism.

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