Northumbria University graduate tutor Kate Harland, who also sits on the ITT’s education and training committee, told delegates there was still an "appetite" from students to study tourism degrees. "The passion and the will to study tourism hasn’t gone away," said Harland.

"Even though Covid has affected us, it hasn’t affected the numbers that want to come in and study tourism so the appetite is still there, the students are still there, which means you have new talent coming into the industry."

Harland was speaking during a panel discussion with Whitbread commercial lead Louie Davis, 2219 Media founder Jamie-Lee Abtar, Avis travel and partnerships manager Sophie Nelson and ITT student ambassador Tina Benbow.

She further called on the industry to keep looking to recruit new talent, and do its utmost to retain talent within travel and tourism.

Davis, though, said that while there was traditionally a "multitude" of entry points into a career in travel and tourism, some had "dried up" owing to the pandemic – making it more important than ever firms seek to create new opportunities for new entrants.

"If you look at the top 100 employers in the UK, almost half of them have cut their graduate budget, which is the largest fall since the 2008/09 financial crisis," said Davis.

"It’s a really difficult time for students trying to get into the industry."