Travel Agent Revs Up Sales Through Formula 1 Racing

For so many travel advisors, finding their niche can be a lifelong journey. Not for Claire Maguire. An agent for only two years, Maguire is channeling her father’s love for racing, and her own childhood memories of hanging out in his garage, into a specialty travel business in one of sport’s most exclusive, luxury niches – Formula 1 racing.

The owner of 2-year-old Cruise Planners franchise, Island Girl Travel and Vacations, Maguire focused on adventure and group travel, up until recently. Some of her favorite trips have been Caribbean and Mediterranean cruises, adventure travel (including Croatia, Iceland and Peru), and celebration travel to all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. 

“Travel is a passion of mine. I decided I wanted to share the joy, helping others to make dreams come true and see what our incredible planet has to offer,” said Maguire, who has visited more than 80 countries.

“My business has just exploded and grown beyond my wildest dreams, thanks to the support of my friends, clients, and so many referrals.”

Today, she has her sights set on the Formula 1 winner’s circle, and is hop-scotching across the globe to establish relationships with the racing circuit’s top events and various suppliers that host the kind of client who likes to sip champagne from a yacht, while listening to that distinct engine roar. 

Born for speed
Maguire is an anomaly in the Formula 1 (F1) racing industry. A 2017 survey by the Motorsport Network found that women make up about ten percent of Formula 1 racing fans. (The 2017 Global F1 Fan Survey reached about 215,000 fans, from more than 190 countries.)

But Maguire’s connections between travel and racing seem natural, once you get to know her. Born in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands between England and France, Maguire earned a degree in International Relations and Political Science. But after college, she ended up managing a motorcycle dealership in Florida, and spent the next few years in motorcycle retail sales and management, as well as brand and product management for motorcycle safety equipment and apparel.

As part of her job, she often was given tickets to races around the U.S. “I developed a strong passion for motorcycle races,” she said. “I am still not sure if it’s genetic or a way of connecting with my father’s memory.”

Maguire’s father Tom “used to race anything and everything he could,” from motorcycles to rally cars. Tom Maguire, who passed away about 33 years ago, even hand-built his own open wheel formula race car, and raced it in the UK and France – very often winning local championships. (Tom Maguire’s younger brother Gwyn helped finance Tom’s racing career.)

“I grew up around racing, being at my dad’s garage, with him always working on his vehicles. My earliest memories are the smell of 2-stroke oil in his race bikes, which to this day, takes me back to my childhood,” she remembers.

Reconnecting with motorcycles as an adult (she owns a red Ducati that she rides in her “very limited spare time”), Maguire also began following F1 car races, “which my dad also loved.”

“Noticing a big void in the market for racing events as a specialty, I decided to combine my passions for racing and travel, and focus on this as a new venture,” she said. She formed her company, Destination F1.

The industry has documented a need for Maguire’s services. “Good vantage points, a strong support programme and Pitlane/Paddock access are key for driving fan attendance,” the Motorsport Network survey found, perfect for a skilled agent to curate experiences.

“Strong support race packages” and lodging were the fourth and fifth most-important factors to garner more attendance, the study showed. The survey also indicated that about 20 percent of its global fans are “senior executives and board directors,” and professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc.), prime candidates for Destination F1’s packages.

“My vision is to create a bucket list experience based around the races, but with some unique and exclusive additions to the program” incorporating luxury travel as well as exclusive, unique experiences at races around the globe, she said.

Maguire has spent the last few months developing strategic partnerships in the automotive and motorcycle industries as well as with some luxury brands; and is working on plans for customized trips for individuals and small, exclusive groups – like driving Ferraris and other high-end autos at tracks around Europe.

“I had some mentors in the travel industry who encouraged me to pursue this, and started working hard on planning research trips and networking to find unique experiences and event vendors to work with,” Maguire said.

She also is establishing relationships with private jet companies, luxury yacht charters and high-end hospitality vendors for the racing events, as well as super-luxury nightclubs, red carpet events and parties. 

Formula 1 is primed for a niche travel business
At the same time that Maguire was reconnecting with her roots, Formula 1 was undergoing changes of its own that would make it more conducive for a destination-event travel business.

In early 2017, the Formula 1 brand was purchased by cable television and mass media giant, Liberty Media. The new executives announced that they wanted to boost attendance by turning F1 races into events more like the Super Bowl, including behind-the-scenes fan access and more corporate events.

The industry calculates that somewhere between 3.2 million-3.5 million individuals attended a Formula 1 event in 2016 – the last year for which estimates exist – spending approximately $625 million-$650 million on race event tickets alone. (The Motorsport study did not supply the estimated tourism spend.)

Additionally, the study showed that the three most popular Grand Prix events are: Monaco (held in late May), Monza (held in September just outside of Milan, Italy), and Silverstone (in the UK). Austin, Texas, also hosts a U.S. F1 Grand Prix event in the fall.

Traveling to a Formula 1 event is, in many respects, a bucket list kind of event for many of its fans. According to the Motorsport Network survey, of the 25 percent of fans who went to a 2016 Grand Prix event, more than 80 percent attended only one event that year.

Maguire crossed off a personal bucket list trip of her own May 24-26, 2019, traveling to Monaco for its annual F1 Grand Prix. For three days, her personal Facebook newsfeed was filled with photos and videos of gala balls and receptions, views from exclusive hospitality suites and yachts, and of course, Formula 1 cars darting around the two-mile track.

She will be traveling to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in June, conducting inspections and meeting vendors; and then, she heads to Singapore in September for similar visits and meetings.

“I want to deliver the thrill of being in the racing paddock and seeing idols racing around immensely difficult tracks in cars with the most advanced technology … the sound of the engines and the atmosphere of the races and venues themselves, all combined with a luxury, bespoke trip,” Maguire said. “I am so excited about this new venture.” 

Two different lives, two different brands
Given the distinct differences between her Formula 1 business and Island Girl Travel, Maguire knew she would have to keep the marketing for the two businesses separate.

“I thought it was very important to distinguish the two, so as not to alienate any of my valued clients in both spheres,” she said.

Her logo for Destination F1 is inspired by a carving made by her Uncle Gwyn for her father’s headstone. (The logo was created by Kristina Selby-Brown, someone she found through her Canadian Destination F1 partners, Luxperience Travel Group.)

Maguire has been using both LinkedIn and Instagram heavily while developing the Destination F1 business, and recently launched a separate Instagram and Facebook page for it. She is using these handles to establish relationships with vendors, and very soon will be launching her new events website. For her Cruise Planners franchise, she has leveraged Facebook more.

Once the Destination F1 website is launched, she will concentrate on SEO marketing and working directly with her partners, such as the Ferrari dealerships. “Eventually, I will market at various automotive events and expos,” she said. 

Perpetually smiling in her social media newsfeed, Maguire frequently uses her personal mantra (#makelifehappen) in her posts. “I truly believe that, with the power of a great idea, conviction and hard work, amazing things can become reality,” she said.