It is the year 1918 and with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the independent country of Czechoslovakia is formed. In the summer of 1920, the Czechoslovak Travel and Transport Office joined the hundreds of new companies which then started to mushroom. It was founded by a Czechoslovak bank called Bohemia and regional travel associations as a counterweight to foreign competition on the travel services market. However, the entry in the commercial registry took four whole months. Its legal existence therefore started on 26 October 1920.

An important source of income was initially the sale of railway tickets to workers travelling for work to the French coal mines, alongside the sale of ship tickets to emigrants headed to America. To strengthen the company’s market presence, a branch was established in Bratislava, followed by the first three affiliates in Paris, London, and Vienna.

Čedok then uses transport planes for overseas trips to Egypt and Morocco as well as for sightseeing flights in France, Italy, and Spain. As one of the first travel agencies in Central Europe, Čedok starts issuing its own travel cheques.

Čedok then uses transport planes for overseas trips to Egypt and Morocco as well as for sightseeing flights in France, Italy, and Spain. As one of the first travel agencies in Central Europe, Čedok starts issuing its own travel cheques.

Much later, after the Second World War, the company logo appears with the stork symbol embedded in a heraldic pavise shield. The symbolism is clear: the stork is a domestic migratory bird and the pavise is a stylised reminder of the famous travel quests of the Czech knights. At the same time, the logo has historical design value. Its author is Zdenek Rykr, and today the logo with the pavise is a part of the corporate heritage of the Čedok tour operator.

In the mid-1920s, Čedok publishes the first comprehensive catalogues of group tours under the name Naše cesty [Our Travels], which offer travel around European capitals, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, North Africa, and Yugoslavia. Seaside holidays are becoming fashionable and Czech tourists are discovering the Slavic Riviera – the coast of Yugoslavia – for the rest of the world. The most popular resorts are those on the northern Adriatic sea coast, around Trieste – especially the island of Grado and the art nouveau spa of Opatija near Rijeka. Demanding tourists prefer the famous Lido in Venice or the island of Capri near Naples.

Domestic tourism also develops – primarily stays in the mountains or spas and tourist visits to Prague. Popular destinations include Špindlerův Mlýn and the High Tatras. At the beginning of the 1930s, Čedok already has twenty domestic offices. Regardless of the economic crisis, Čedok is dramatically expanding its offer of catalogue tours at this time. In 1936, Čedok becomes a joint-stock company majority owned by the state.

At this time, the company’s activities are mainly limited to the organisation of one-day train trips and domestic recreations for factory workers.

A year later, the first branch of Čedok in London also resumes its operation and starts organizing inbound tourism to Prague, which was little affected by the war. Even at this turbulent time, Čedok promotes the resumed modern air transport.

In the rationing economy, Čedok’s practical innovation – Christmas gift vouchers – become widely used.

In as late as 1954, foreign tour activities are resumed and Čedok publishes a tour catalogue again. The final destinations of the offered sea trips are, naturally, exclusively the countries behind the Iron Curtain, especially Bulgaria, which the Czechs explore in a similar way to Yugoslavia before the war. They also travel to Romania, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, and temporarily to Albania. While tours to Yugoslavia are kept to a minimum, the Soviet Union in particular becomes a prestigious destination for sightseeing and, later, residential tours.

Čedok is monopolistically entrusted with the organisation of incoming tourism in Czechoslovakia. The state transfers the most important domestic hotels under its management with the aim of refurbishing them to reach an international standard. The management of Čedok also incorporates into its services dining and sleeping train carriages, as well as a network of selected cable cars and ski lifts.

However, this boom is ended by the August 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia, which surprises twenty thousand Czechoslovaks abroad, in whose repatriation Čedok participates. The operator also helps return people who travelled abroad privately.

Numerous special trains head to the Black Sea to Bulgaria and Romania, buses or cars drive to Lake Balaton or the Baltic Sea, and so-called companion planes fly to the Soviet Union.

Exotic destinations, such as Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba are added in the tour portfolio. The scale of travel far surpasses pre-war levels, and a seaside holiday ceases to be an unattainable dream for most families. A marketing slogan, which later becomes very popular, characterises this period saying: “Travel with Čedok beyond the boundaries of everyday life.” In inbound tourism, Čedok focuses on organising stays for tourists from the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), especially from the GDR and the Soviet Union. Many of them travel mainly for shopping and return aboard trains crammed with carpets and crystal chandeliers.

Western tourists show a different motivation. For example, hunting tourism flourishes. During its existence, Čedok has served over a hundred thousand hunters.

Just for the sake of interest – a foreign hunter pays Čedok seven dollars for shooting a pheasant or a hare. Čedok also organises over two hundred congresses and symposia every year. At this time, there is also a further expansion of air tours. In 1972, Čedok operates its first large-capacity charter flight, using the largest aircraft in the world of that period, namely a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet, heading to the Indian city of Delhi.

It is involved in the construction of modern large-capacity hotels in Prague, e.g., Forum and Atrium (today’s Corinthia Towers) and Hilton.

1988 is the year of the largest ever expansion of Čedok, which organises foreign tours for 710 thousand people. Together with inbound and domestic tourism, it provides services for almost two million people.

In November 1989, the totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia collapses, and one of the freedoms people call for during the Velvet Revolution is the freedom to travel.

The first Čedok trip to the island of Tahiti is welcomed there as a state visit. Similarly, the first Čedok group of Czech tourists disembarks in Antarctica, with the oldest participant being at the age of 77.

The year 1990 brings the end of the Čedok monopoly in the Czech Republic. Its competition is growing from the original eight to more than a thousand private travel agencies. Interhotels are removed from the company’s assets, becoming independent enterprises. Only four hotels remain in Čedok’s ownership. In 1991, the crisis of the post-totalitarian era reaches its peak, and Čedok’s business volume drops to just 21 thousand participants on the operator’s foreign tours.

Simultaneously with the division of Czechoslovakia, Čedok is divided into two parts – Čedok remains in the Czech Republic, while in Slovakia a new SATUR travel agency is created from the branches of Čedok. In 1993, the Čedok trademark is declared famous. Čedok becomes a part of the crown jewels of the Czech economy, and the following year is readied for privatisation by the national property fund.

In 1997, Čedok is at the birth of the Prague Sightseeing Tours company, specialised in organising sightseeing tours of Prague and trips around Bohemia.

After 2000, Čedok fundamentally deepens its strategic partnership with the successful domestic airline of Travel Service, which specialises in charter transportation.

In 2003, Čedok invests in the ESO Travel tour operator, which organises exotic tours, and founds a subsidiary in Bratislava for the sale of tours in Slovakia.

Čedok also establishes a subsidiary in Istanbul, Turkey, under the name of Ahoy Turizm with a branch in Bodrum on the Aegean coast. Čedok also has its own representation in Vienna, Moscow, and Bratislava. On the domestic market, Čedok runs the largest network of subsidiaries and a modern call centre and offers the widest range of tours to fifty countries on five continents alongside other tourism services.

Some of the proof of its success includes over three thousand pages of 20 catalogues with more than 50 destinations and the most visited tour operator website in the Czech Republic. When preparing its tours, Čedok carefully follows the latest travel trends and includes in its offer thought-after places to stay and top-quality accommodation with a wide range of first-class services, featuring All Inclusive catering plus sports and evening entertainment.

Čedok’s professionally managed children’s clubs are designed for young travellers. Golf, diving, windsurfing, spa treatments, honeymoons, programs for juniors, families with children or seniors; these and other target groups are offered top services by Čedok, guaranteed by a team of experienced Czech-speaking guides and delegates. The motto that holiday begins with transport is still valid today. Thanks to its own coaches and the rental of state-of-the-art aircraft on a large scale, Čedok offers the convenience of its own direct connections, even to distant exotic destinations. The catalogue offer is complemented by a practically unlimited assortment of tours tailored by a professional consulting service to the client’s requirements. The offer is created by a team of specialists under the renowned brand of Exclusive Travel Čedok.

However, Čedok does not only focus on regular tours; its offer also includes congress, arrival, and incentive tourism, alongside Business Travel services including individual ticket sales. In its history, Čedok has also organised many prestigious events. Among the most famous are, for example, transport services and accompanying programs for the NATO summit in Prague and the meeting of the largest professional association in the field of tourism, Asta.

Čedok’s sponsorship activities related to football, hockey, and other sports, alongside provision of transport and other services for important sports events such as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the Davis Cup finals in Barcelona, also become popular. Čedok also transports the national football team, its partners, and fans. Čedok is aware of its social responsibility and in recent years has supported the Pomozte dětem [Aid the Children] civil society development foundation. Čedok has been a holder of a quality system certificate since 2004 and is annually recognised in the TOP 100 survey, ranking among the hundred most important companies in the Czech Republic. Čedok also regularly receives awards at international fairs. For seven years in a row, the company won the Best Tour Operator in the Czech Republic title in the prestigious TTG Travel Awards poll of tourism professionals.