Carli spent 15 years with First Choice and Tui before leaving travel to raise her family. When she returned to the industry as a Travel Counsellor, both she and her daughter had been diagnosed with coeliac disease – gluten intolerance. It was then she saw the opportunity to create a specialist business helping travellers with dietary requirements.

Carli believes one of the biggest mistakes agents can make is "assuming they need to establish themselves" before developing a specialist offering. Even before she publicly promoted gluten-free travel, she had begun researching hotels that catered well for coeliac travellers.

"It started as a little handwritten folder," she said. "If I came across a hotel with really good recommendations, I'd write it down."

The idea remained just that until a Disney Ambassadors trip, where Carli received some encouraging words from a fellow Travel Counsellor. "I told her I'd always wanted to pursue gluten-free travel as a specialism, but I felt I needed to build my business first," Carli said. "She said, 'Just do it. Don't wait.' That's how the brand was born, really."

Five years later, that little handwritten folder has evolved into a database of more than 200 hotels, resorts and cruise lines, built through conversations with suppliers, client feedback and her own travel experiences.

'I never trust a hotel's website'

Rather than relying solely on supplier marketing, Carli contacts hotels directly to understand how they prepare gluten-free meals, whether they have separate cooking facilities and utensils, and how seriously they take cross-contamination. She also checks recent reviews from gluten-free travellers before recommending any property.

"I never trust a hotel's website," she said. "They can say they provide gluten-free food, but what does that mean? I want to hear from travellers who've actually stayed there within the last year."

Alongside her recommended suppliers, Carli also maintains what she describes as a "red list" of hotels and cruise lines that have consistently failed to meet expectations.

"If clients have booked through me and had a bad experience, I'll absolutely feed that back," she said. "If I've had consistent reports that somewhere isn't delivering what's promised, I won't recommend it."

'We want to enjoy our holiday like everyone else'

Carli says one of her own cruise holidays exposed a significant gap between marketing claims and reality, with limited gluten-free options outside the main dining room – despite the ship promoting a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. Her daughter was unable to join children's activities involving buffet meals, and even finding a safe ice cream proved impossible.

"I ended up crying because I just wanted to buy my daughter dessert, you know?" she said. "We just want to enjoy our holiday like everyone else."

Although Carli has been developing her specialist brand for around three years, she says she only began actively investing in growing it earlier this year after attending the Free From Food Awards.

"I realised all these people were doing incredible things for the gluten-free community through food," she said. "I thought, I can do that too – I just need to push."

The investment is already paying off, with her dedicated gluten-free Facebook page growing from around 500 followers to more than 3,000 in a single week this month. She attributes the spike to recommendations within the coeliac community.

"The gluten-free community shares everything," she said. "If someone has a good experience, they'll tell everyone else."

Around 70% of her gluten-free enquiries now come from social media, with the remainder generated by referrals.

'People actually know who I am!'

One milestone particularly stood out to Carli. "I saw someone asking for advice in a coeliac Facebook group and another person replied, 'Ask Gluten-Free Travel, they’ll know'," she explained. "That was the moment I thought, 'oh my god, people actually know who I am!'"

Despite the success of Gluten-Free Travel, Carli has deliberately kept it separate from her mainstream Travel Counsellors business. She spends around half her working time on each brand – although mainstream holidays still account for roughly 80% of bookings – and recently celebrated her largest gluten-free booking so far, an eight-person family holiday to Alcúdia worth just under £7,000.

Looking ahead, Carli's ambition is to become the travel industry's go-to specialist for gluten-free travel. "I want to be to travel what Becky Excell is to gluten-free cooking," she said. "If you've got a niche you're passionate about, you don't wait."