High street agents must provide customer service that cannot be offered online to attract younger clients.
Global agents said they focused on customers they already had, and benefited from word of mouth.
Tiffany Woodley, director of Liverpool-based Myriad Travel, said agents should capitalise on offering reassurance in uncertain times.
“The person who has dealt with you and done your booking can relate to you,” she said. “We need to bring younger people in.
“These are the ones who are internet-savvy – and if we cannot attract them into our businesses, we will die. Somehow, we have to convert them from the internet to speaking to real people.
“For the advice side, and for someone who does not know where they want to go, I think the agent will always come first.”
Woodley said young clients can be converted when they realise they can pay for holidays in cash instalments when using an agent.
Opulent Travel owner Leighann Morgan, who moved from working out of an office to opening a high street store two months ago, doubted technology or virtual agents would ever take over.
“They [customers] want to see you, want to speak to you and want to know you are there,” she said. “It’s about building a relationship. For us, a customer is a friend. It’s just being a bit more memorable.”
Steve Cartwright, who owns Cartwright Travel in Cardiff, said he had had success attracting younger customers using Instagram, on which the company has 14,000 followers.
“They want our advice,” he said. “And those living with mum and dad have a lot of disposable income.”