From desiring more connection, more culinary experiences and less crammed itineraries, Gen Z travellers have evolved and last week, youth brand Topdeck celebrated its recent transformation at its HQ, returning to its roots in small group touring.
As Global Touring MD Ed Pettit explained, 25-year-olds these days are lot more well-travelled than in previous generations – and their needs have evolved, especially since the pandemic.
“They’re not looking to just take off to a lot of different destinations… They want their tribe, and they want to also experience more of a local culture,” he said.
“This transformation for Topdeck is really deep…it’s a full transformation of what we do by taking the original DNA of Topdeck and making it relevant to a customer today.”
During last week’s event, Turner shared the business’ journey, recalling some of the legendary stories from its beginnings, from flooring a 14 foot double decker bus ‘Michael-Caine-Italian-Job-style’ while jump onto a ferry across to Morocco and even “setting up a church” to pass through Iran.
“There was a lot less regulation – you could basically go anywhere in Europe and most other countries without visas,” he said.
“You could do just about anything, and not just get away with it, but you didn’t even think about it.”
