Bus Travel, Europe

Travel by bus in Europe has come a long way. The development from horse-drawn carriages to motor charabancs (an early form of bus) and motor coaches took place around 1910 and into the 1930s. In the 1930s, many European countries [Page 190]had several operators before World War II led to the suspension of many services. The 1950s and 1960s were prosperous years for traveling by bus, before the ownership of private cars spread and foreign holidays became popular.

Nowadays, bus tourism offers a wide range of services to the public. Those services can be categorized into express coach, tour operator, private hire, and transfer services. All services can be sold directly or by means of intermediaries. The first two categories are described here since they account ...