Cartwright Travel/Passion For Cruises, Rhiwbina, Cardiff: Wales’s Top Agency 2017

The reaction from its customer-base is testament to the mantra by which this Cardiff-based agency operates: always treat customers like family. The team is on first-name terms with 80% of clients and consider many to be friends, which has created the kind of loyalty that has helped the agency to grow considerably in the past years.

The business has certainly not always enjoyed such buoyancy. Several years ago, Steve almost had to shut up shop, until a meeting of minds with former colleague and Gill’s Cruise Centre director Steve Philippou, which set the business on course for more prosperous waters.

Together the pair forged a new online brand, Passion For Cruises, in 2012 and have since established themselves as one of the country’s leading specialist cruise agencies. The brand specifically targets the solo cruise market and now boasts a database of 13,000 single cruisers.

It’s clear that the team has a genuine love of cruising – staff have been on 80 different ships between them. And this product knowledge is underpinned by an impressive marketing operation. Whether it’s clever use of website domains such as cruisesfromcardiff.co.uk and solocruiseoffers.co.uk, targeted Facebook deals, or their continued advertising with Cardiff City football club, it’s the team’s mission to ensure residents of Cardiff and beyond make Passion For Cruises their first port of call.

Customers who do book can expect steadfast commitment, as clients stung by the collapse of All Leisure Group saw earlier this year. From speaking to affected (and in some cases stranded) clients on New Year’s Day to tackling a mountain of Atol forms for customers, the team’s professionalism shone through – and even picked up extra bookings as word of their exceptional customer service got round.