Duke Travel sponsored the award for Teams Working Together at the 2024 Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence. In this feature, their chief executive officer, Peter Duke, tells us why he had a special reason for choosing this category…

The name Duke is synonymous with motorsport. Multiple TT winner Geoff Duke was one of the most celebrated racers of all time around the Mountain Course.

What is less well known is that, after his racing career ended, Geoff Duke was also an innovator in travel and tourism. He owned and ran the former Arragon Hotel in Santon and also introduced the first roll-on-roll-off ferry service to the island when he set up Manx Line in 1978. This was in competition to the Steam Packet which at the time was only operating side-loading vehicle ferries and passenger-only vessels.

Geoff’s son, Peter, set up his own company, Duke Video, in 1981 and producing motorsport videos and DVDs which were enjoyed by fans all over the world. At its peak it employed 55 full time staff and supplied 2,000 shops but the move to digital entertainment saw the video market dwindle and the business needed to evolve. In response, Duke developed the IOMTT website which was adopted by Isle of Man Government as the official site of the TT and built up to 2.3 million unique users.

When, in 2018, Duke was offered the chance to take over organising travel and accommodation for TT visitors, Peter says that it seemed a natural diversification.

Geoff Duke crossing the finish line to win the 1951 Junior TT, his first of two wins that week. (Inset right) Fast forward more than half a century and Geoff is pictured presenting John McGuinness with the Senior trophy after the latterâ??s success in 2008. McGuinness has already been inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame, but ironically Duke has yet to be included

‘We already had a quarter of a million subscribers to information about the TT, we were reaching all these people worldwide, so it was actually a fairly quick decision to become the official travel agent of the TT.

‘I was very comfortable with that: I actually grew up in the Arragon Hotel and when I came back to the island in 1978, it was to work on Manx Line so I have lived, eaten and slept the TT and tourism all my life really.’

The logistical challenge for the TT has always been to get around 43,000 visitors - equivalent to half the island’s population - safely on and off the island, and accommodate them, all within the space of about two and a half weeks.

But, like his father, Peter has been an innovator.

Peter Duke
Peter Duke (-)

He says: ‘In 2019 we introduced a lot of packages and we rapidly realised that there was a dire shortage of accommodation, particularly hotel accommodation, so we created the first of the TT Villages on the old prison site [in Victoria Road].’

The accommodation here was in cabins, each with a bedroom and an en-suite bathroom, which were brought over to the island just for TT.

After bringing in an adequate power and water supply to the site, it was ready to go.

It has proved to be a big success.

Peter says: ‘The Village now has 204 cabins which is quite a big logistical challenge with 54 trucks going in and out. And this year we served four and half thousand breakfasts – that all takes a bit of organising.’

‘We’ve also invested in glamping sites. We weren’t the first to do that but we’ve expanded it quite a bit: Peel Football Club and Vagabonds’ ground and our brand-new site for next year, Cronkbourne Cricket Club.’

The TT village in 2019
The TT village in 2019 (-)

Interestingly, Peter says that America is a huge part of their market: ‘Most of them don’t know where the Isle of Man is, or what the TT is, but it’s on their bucket list. And very few of them book online: most of them want to talk to you and ask lots of questions but we give a great personal service here.’

Building on their experience with the TT, Duke Travel has now broadened its offering, looking to target more year-round business. Their website now offers experiences including mountain biking, genealogy, walking, motorsport history, golfing and Viking history.

When it came to the Awards for Excellence, Peter sees sponsoring the Teams Working Together Award as an opportunity to pay tribute to a very special group of people.

Peter Duke (Duke Travel) presenting Andy Priestly (Isle of Man TT Marshals) with the Duke Travel Teams Working Together Award.
Peter Duke (Duke Travel) presenting Andy Priestly (Isle of Man TT Marshals) with the Duke Travel Teams Working Together Award. (Photo by Callum Staley (CJS Photography))

He explains: ‘Our business is 90% based around the TT and the TT would not happen today – and would never have happened - without a vast team of volunteers – 1700 of them in total.

‘We’ve always supported the TT Marshalls and, having spotted that they were one of the nominees for this award, sponsoring the award really appealed to me.’