“Prices will have to go up in order to make the margins that they want to make because they will pay more for the accommodation they are booking. Some tour operators might have bought their currency forward, but an awful lot of them won’t. The likelihood is that in the short term, holidays will go up in price.”

Andy Stark, managing director of the Global Travel Group, offered a more positive view, suggesting that England’s defeat in the Euro 2016 championships this week could have a positive impact. “It might spur people to book holidays now that England are out of the Euros.”

Meanwhile, Bowen said the industry would likely begin reintroducing surcharges to allow for currency fluctuations. “I think we will see changes to the booking conditions to allow companies the right to surcharge.

“If businesses are making a 10-15% margin, they need to make sure they are still making that margin. Around 25 years ago everyone surcharged, but people realised that wasn't commercially sensible. They may now have to start reintroducing that.”

Elsewhere, the most immediate impact for Thomas Cook was on its foreign exchange business, which saw a rush in transactions, forcing its online currency sales to be temporarily suspended.

“We saw a surge in demand for currency in the wake of the Leave vote in the early hours of Friday,” said a Cook spokesperson. “Demand had been accelerating over the previous six weeks, particularly for euros. At this early stage the implications of the UK vote to leave the EU are still unclear, however our focus remains on running the business as usual.”

In the longer term, airline association Iata is already predicting that UK air passenger numbers may fall by 3%-5% by 2020 due to a weaker economy and a fall in the pound’s value.

The view from the frontline

TTG’s Top 50 travel agencies share their reaction to Brexit

Nicole Eaves, founder, Garstang Travel
“It’s been business as usual for us – we haven’t had any queries from any panicking clients. We’re not worrying about it much at the minute because nothing has really been decided yet and it’ll take at least two years for anything to change. In the meantime we’re just staying positive and focusing on business.”

Alison Jones, manager, Beaver Travel, Elgin
“It hasn’t put people off booking and we’ve had a busy week. There is uncertainty at the moment especially around currency exchange and the value of sterling – only time will tell how Brexit might affect the industry.”

Helen Johnson, owner, Polka Dot Travel
“We had a lot of people coming into the shop on Saturday to ask questions about what it would mean for their holiday, but we just assured them nothing would be changing anytime soon. Everybody is facing the unknown at the moment but we haven’t seen any effect on bookings.”

Carolyn Park, director, C The World
“Things have been pretty normal since the result. We’ve taken some late bookings and some looking further ahead. Customers are slightly frustrated about the value of the pound, but apart from that we haven’t seen any impact and clients are carrying on as normal.”