Speaking at the Advantage Travel Partnership conference in Madeira at the weekend, Lo Bue-Said said the coming months would be crucial in cementing the currency and goodwill travel agents have accrued during the pandemic for their strength of service.

While praising Advantage members for their resilience, Lo Bue-Said said the agent sector, and travel as a whole, was far from out of the woods.

"It’s an amazing opportunity now for independent travel agents to go for it and give the consumer what they really need, and that’s professional travel advice," she said.

However, despite several months of positive trading, she cautioned against anyone resting on their laurels. "The challenge right now is that because trading is good, there’s a danger of thinking, ‘let’s get back to normal’," said Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage.

"The pent-up demand is not going to last."

Lo Bue-Said’s comments came amid a broader assessment of the impact of the past two years, and travel’s recovery, for which she was joined by Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade and The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder.

Alderslade admitted the airline sector was "taken by surprise" by how quickly the government rolled back its travel restrictions earlier this year. "We got everything removed in one fell swoop… so we’ve been planning for Easter and summer semi-blind," he said, acknowledging the challenges the aviation sector, in particular, has faced in recent weeks.

"The last two weeks have not been edifying," he conceded, adding: "It’s going to take a few years to get back to where we were. I’m very relieved about where we are right now. But getting through the summer – there’s a huge challenge ahead."

‘Industry of certainty’

His comments led onto a discussion around the current recruitment crisis in travel. "The labour just isn’t there," said Alderslade. "We just don’t have access to the labour we used to have," he said, noting the impact of Brexit and people’s pursuit of a better standard of living.

"Aviation is not always an attractive sector to work in," he continued. "There was a lack of government support; people had to leave. Virgin Atlantic lost 46% of its staff. Furlough for aviation barely scratched the surface. We have to make aviation more attractive for young British people to come into."

Lo Bue-Said said these challenges had pervaded the entire travel eco-system, with more people now looking for greater levels of flexibility from their employers owing to the rise of homeworking during the pandemic.

"People want a better work/life balance," she said. "We also need to be seen as an industry of certainty. I think we have a duty to work collectively to shape the image of the industry."

Calder said that while improving pay and conditions throughout the travel industry would be key to this, any such transition would involve consumers gaining a greater appreciation of the value of the expertise inherent in agents.

He added the media should champion the agent sector, and tell people the best way to book a good trip is through an independent travel agent.