AA Graduate Recruitment managing director Debbee Dale has warned the travel industry that unless it continues to recruit new entrants and graduates it could lose them to other professions, such as IT and finance.
Dale said there would be a serious skill shortage in the next five to 10 years, if the industry did not look ahead.
She said: “Following the September 11 attacks, business travel stopped recruiting, so a couple of years ago, there was no graduates or new starters coming through. We were having to pay £35,000 for a business travel agent.”
With the high number of experienced travel people still looking for jobs, especially after the XL Leisure Group failure, she fears graduates are at the “bottom of the pecking order”.
She added: “[Graduates] are coming in ‘raw’ but they have had four years of intense training at university. They are creative people who have ideas.”
She advised employers without a graduate training programme to offer fresh graduates a structured career path.
- More on training at travelweekly.co.uk/training