Topdeck Travel is a tour operator providing trips for people aged 18 to 39 throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, North America,

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

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. Topdeck offers 330 different tours in 65 countries.

History

Early Days

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

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

K5 and Lodekka double decker buses, converted to a camper-van layout where passengers slept in the bus. The first trip was to Spain and Morocco. From 1974 and right through the 1990s, these ‘deckers’ travelled Europe and further afield to the

, and even overland between

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Nepal, Province , subdivision_name1 ...

In the early 1980s, the company expanded its operations into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

where it coined the name Decker Homes for its Bristol Lodekka buses. The company also ran trips from Sydney 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 be retired 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. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway (Great Britain), Southern Railway b ...

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, is one of the few survivors of a period which saw several similar companies like Transit, Autotours and Sundowners leave the business. Unlike other companies, 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 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,

, the

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, and increasingly emerging markets such as Colombia,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Topdeck trips are primarily sold through budget and student travel outlets such as

's youth brand Student Travel. On 1 April 2010, Connections Adventures officially became Topdeck Australia. In Vietnam, Topdeck joins a venture with Buffalo tours to operate tours in Vietnam, Lao, Cambodia and Thailand. Their longest tour is 27 days.

Other Information

Awards

In 2012, Topdeck won three awards at the TNT 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

* {{Official website, http://www.topdeck.travel, Topdeck Travel - official website
Buspix photo site, containing Top Deck Bristol Lodekkas
Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom 1973 establishments in the United Kingdom