Cook’s ‘Map of the Trossachs’ is a tourist brochure from 1903 created by the firm Thos. Cook & Son. Thos. Cook & Son was the largest travel company of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and popularized Scottish tourism. Cook’s success came from appealing to the working and middle classes who had previously been unable to travel due to money and time constraints. Cook’s tours were not only cheaper but efficient as well, making full use of the extensive transport system of Scotland as shown on the map, with railway, steamer, and coach (carriage) travel. 

The brochure also advertises various businesses involved with the travel industry such as hotels, restaurants, tours, carriage drivers, costume shops and even a hairdresser. The costume shop shown on the brochure specifically focuses on Highland costumes, showing how appealing Highland culture was for many visitors. Many of the hotels advertised on the brochure worked with Thos.Cook & Son to allow discounts for people who were travelling with the company. People with Cook’s hotel coupons would pay ten shillings and a sixpence per day for both bedding and food while those with the special series coupons paid seven shillings and a sixpence. Hotels would be reimbursed by Thos. Cook & Son for the coupons, incentivising hotels to use them so they could reach a wider audience without sacrificing profit. The backside of the brochure shows a list of all the hotels that accept Cook’s coupons as well as the tours in which visitors could participate. Cook’s circular system of tours ensured that independent tourists would still benefit from Cook’s guidance through tickets, hotel coupons, travellers’ cheques, and staff which were located at major centres of transportation. 

Most destinations of the tours are detailed on the map such as the Isle of Arran, Loch Lomond, and Inveraray. Steamer travel was not only confined to the sea with steamer lines located in lochs across Scotland, such as on Loch Katrine and Loch Awe. During the time, the town of Oban was a tourist centre that was popular for the multitude of steamer cruises that started in the town, with visitors using Oban as a gateway to explore the Western Isles. Oban is shown to be one of the most significant tourist towns on the brochure, with a large portion of the tours revolving around the town or its steamer travel.                                                                                                                                   

Veiw pamphlet here.