More travel jobs were created in February than at any point since the start of the pandemic a year ago, new recruitment data reveals.
But the number of vacancies in February was still down by 83% year-on-year, according to the latest figures from C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment.
Vacancies in the sector have risen for four months in a row, with last month’s total standing at nearly triple the figure from last October.
The total also rose by 10% over January – the previous best month for post-pandemic vacancies – and is more than double the number of average roles seen per month between April and December 2020.
The number of new candidates searching for jobs in the travel industry also rose in February, with the month recording the highest total since last July and the second highest figure since the beginning of the pandemic.
Although still down on pre-Covid levels, February’s total number of new candidates was only 16% below the number recorded in the same month last year.
C&M director Barbara Kolosinska said: “After months and months of false starts, it finally appears that we have some real momentum in the travel recruitment market again.
“There’s clearly a huge demand from consumers for the return of travel, and we’re now seeing companies in the industry starting to create new vacancies and take on new talent in anticipation of a real uptick in business in the coming months.
“February was the busiest month that we’ve seen since everything shut down last spring, with vacancy numbers now having risen for four months in a row.
“Happily, March has been very busy so far, and the month is very much on track to deliver another rise in activity with more and more companies eager to take on the top travel talent while it is still available.”