For TTG news editor Jen, it was the agent at LAH Travel in West Kilbride who left a Chamber of Commerce dinner to work through the night – still glammed up in her ballgown – to rebook 48 clients whose flights had been cancelled after Hurricane Matthew struck Florida.

For reporter Tom, it was a consultant at Ocky White Travel, Haverfordwest, who helped a client who had recently undergone a mastectomy, shop for her wedding dress, helping to make sure she was comfortable for her big day.

And for features editor Abi, it was the staff at Westoe Travel in South Shields who footed half the bill to fund two X Factor hopefuls’ journey down to London for the show’s auditions. It paid off – the girls, better known as Jade and Perrie, joined two others and became known as Little Mix, going on to become the first group to win The X Factor.

These were just some of the remarkable examples of customer service the TTG editorial team heard during our TTG Top 50 tour of the UK and Ireland.

Our journeys took us to Scottish villages; the Irish countryside; the Welsh coast and even the Channel Islands. We visited agencies in furniture stores (Travel the Globe, Barrow-in-Furness) and supermarkets (Co-operative Travel Maker, Guernsey); found impressive interior designs – including a cruise zone complete with mock Royal Caribbean ship bow (Barrhead Travel, Glasgow); and marvelled at futuristic stores with virtual reality headsets and iPads (Thomas Cook, Stratford), although I was equally as impressed with the prosecco fridge in last year’s TTG Top Travel Agency, Garstang Travel.

Here you’ll find a 48-page pull-out which profiles all 90 branches and agencies that earned a place on our shortlist for 2017. Both regional stores and nationwide agencies left us in awe of their dedication to serving their customers and their local communities, and made us all proud to be part of such an incredible industry.

The Top 50 won’t be revealed until the ceremony in Birmingham on March 13, but with more than 950 agencies entering this year, every one of the 90 finalists already has the X Factor in our eyes.