Cole said he was "shocked and humbled" to receive the award, which was presented during the ceremony by Dame Irene Hays and daughter Helen Hays.

"It was amazing," he told TTG. "Overall, I thought the awards were fantastic and a breath of fresh air. It was great to see people you’ve not seen for some time and have good chat and socialise. It’s been a long time coming.

"This award is for the whole business. All of my colleagues and my friends that I work with at Panache Cruises, It’s our award, not just mine." 

Panache posted the achievement to its LinkedIn page, which inspired one customer, who usually books direct with a cruise line, to enquire about a future trip.

"It was an enquiry that we received pretty much over the weekend after the awards," Cole continued.

"This guy usually books directly with the cruise line he travels with, but on this occasion he had seen the award and seen the progress we have made as a business and he was really impressed, he liked what we were doing and he thought he would give us a go."

The booking, for four people to embark on an Australian sailing during the Christmas 2023 period, secured the luxury cruise specialist £54,000 in revenue.

Cole said it represented a trend the company has recently noted, with clients booking more "adventurous" trips after not being able to travel for a large portion of the past two years.

"Undoubtedly, people want something really special in their diaries to look forward to, to make up for missing cruises over the past couple of years," he added.

Cole said Panache has recently seen an increase in demand for short-term departures, along with Caribbean cruises over the winter period. 

"In 2022 we’re seeing popularity for ocean cruising in the Mediterranean, the Baltics and Fjords, and again river cruising which has seen a really big uptick in demand for next summer," Cole added.

"Beyond 2022, the world is the cruiser’s oyster.

"We’re seeing people looking to book South America, Antarctica, the Galapagos, Australia, and South Africa. By the end of next year, people are confident that the cruising world will open up to almost all destinations."