Topdeck Travel (originally Top Deck Travel) is a tour operator providing trips for people aged 18 to 39 throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Topdeck offers 330 different tours in 65 countries.

History

Early days

The company was founded in 1973 and was officially named Argas Persicus Ltd, and it is trading as Topdeck Travel. The name was a reference to the turkey tick (''Argas persicus''), due to the founders having met in veterinary school. Transport was provided by

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

K5 and Lodekka double-decker buses, converted to a camper-van layout where passengers slept in the bus. The first trip was to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. From 1974 and right through the 1990s, these ‘deckers’ travelled

and further afield to the

, and even overland between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

In the early 1980s, the company expanded its operations into the United States, where it coined the name Decker Homes for its Bristol Lodekka buses. The company also ran trips from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to London from 1980, with the final stretch using a converted Sydney double-decker. Coaches were introduced in the mid-1980s, primarily for winter ski holidays. The elderly Lodekkas, some over 40 years old, started to retire in the early 1990s in great numbers, many heading abroad for an active retirement, and the focus shifted to camping and hard-top trips staying in European campsites. Later, hotel adventure trips were introduced. Today, former Top Deck Lodekkas can be seen all over the world, with examples in France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand and numerous other places. One former

Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, founded in 1921 as Dodson and Campbell. It became the Vectis Bus Company in 1923. The company was purchased by Southern Railway before being nationalised in 1969. In 1987, the company wa ...

example returned home, and is now on display at the

Isle of Wight Bus & Coach Museum The Isle of Wight Bus & Coach Museum, also referred to as The Isle of Wight Bus Museum, was founded in 1997 in Newport on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. The museum is a registered charity and run completely by volunteers. The vehicle ...

. Topdeck, alongside

Contiki Tours Contiki is a global tour company that caters to 18 to 35-year-olds, offering over 350 different tours in over 75 countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It is a subsidiary of ...

, is one of the few survivors of a period that saw several similar companies, such as Transit, Autotours and Sundowners, leave the business. The founders went on to set up

Flight Centre Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) is an Australian travel agency. It was founded in 1982, and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. FCTG operates under multiple names in Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, South ...

, Australia's largest travel company.

Today

The company changed hands several times in the 1990s, and in 2003 was purchased by a consortium including

Australian Pacific Touring Australian Pacific Touring (APT) is an Australian tour and river cruising operator with worldwide reach. History Alfred William (Bill) McGeary was born in 1900 in Victoria. A fitter and turner by trade, McGeary bought, re-built and sold cars ...

and Connections Adventures. In 2005, a substantial hotel programme was introduced creating a range of products for all budgets. In 2007, smaller group trips under the "Explorer" banner were launched. Since then, the company has grown into a strong competitor to Contiki Tours in the competitive youth travel market. Its target markets include Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, South Africa, and increasingly emerging markets such as Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, and Singapore. Topdeck trips are primarily sold through budget and student travel outlets such as Flight Centre's youth brand Student Travel. On 1 April 2010, Connections Adventures officially became Topdeck Australia. In Vietnam, Topdeck joined a venture with Buffalo Tours to operate tours in Vietnam, Lao, Cambodia and Thailand. Their longest tour is 27 days.

Awards

In 2012, Topdeck won three awards at the

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

Golden Backpack Awards,Golden Backpack Awards – Winners 2012 http://www.goldenbackpackawards.co.uk/winners-2012 taking home first place as Favourite Big Tour Operator, Favourite Tour Operator in West Europe, and Favourite Ski/Winter Operator.

References

External links