The panel of Global members were quizzed on stage by TTG managing director Daniel Pearce, at the Global Travel Group conference in Dubai.

Martin Wellings, director at PST Travel said he believed the most important element of an agent’s success was “good staff and customer service”.

“There’s no secret that getting good staff is key. Our main competitor is the internet rather than other agents, so the one thing we have [above the internet] is service,” he said.

“You’ve got to have good staff and you’ve got to know more than the public in what they are selling. Lots of good travel people forget that they are not in the job to book holidays but to sell a holiday,” he added. “As agents, we’re about selling.”

Jess Matthews, travel consultant at Liverpool-based Myriad Travel said that word of mouth had proved integral to the agency’s business.

“Every month we host an event, and we ask our clients to bring a friend, so it helps us to bring new people to business as well.”

Sam Cassem, executive director at Your Travel, said he had found pay-per-clicks particularly lucrative despite their costs. “It’s been one of the major expenses but we’ve seen big returns on it.”

The agent panel also spoke of the challenges they had faced while establishing their businesses.

Lakh Hayer, director of Honeymoon Dreams described a radio campaign which the agency took out in a bid to advertise itself. “It was a three month campaign that cost £8,000, but apart from my father-in-law who called to say he had heard the advert on the radio, we didn’t receive any calls,” he admitted.

“But sometimes you’ve got to try things that might or might not work. Sometimes you might just spend £5 on a Facebook campaign or something and get a £50,000 booking,” he added.