The total number of new vacancies in the travel industry rose in January to hit its highest level since March 2007, latest figures show.
This was matched by a strong annual increase in the number of people searching for new roles, with January seeing nearly a quarter more candidates registering than in the same month last year.
But average salaries for new travel roles fell back compared to the 20-month high in December, according to the latest Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment and Chisholm & Moore Executive Recruitment.
However, January’s average of £25,652 was still up by 6.75% over the same month a year ago.
The dip was mainly a result of the fall in salaries seen in the north of the UK, where the average travel salary fell to its lowest level since last March, the study showed.
“Salaries for new travel jobs dipped in January, but it is worth remembering that the previous month saw one of the Index’s highest figure in the past two years,” said company director Barbara Kolosinska.
“Travel salaries remain considerably above the 2014 average, so job seekers currently have a great variety of attractive roles available to them.”
Speaking about the month’s vacancies, she said: “It’s an understatement to say that January was a busy month for the travel jobs market – companies made more jobs available last month than at any point for nearly eight years.
“In addition, we also saw a huge increase in new job seekers, with the number of new candidate registrations rising well above the average level for the previous 12 months.
“With annual increases in both the number of new travel roles and job seekers, it looks like the travel recruitment market could be in for a very busy few months.”