The findings came from the latest figures from C&M Travel Recruitment, which saw the total volume of new job seekers increase by 3% last month.

It was also the highest February figure for six years – up by 39% from last February, up by 109% from February 2021, up by 76% from February 2020, up by 39% from February 2019, up by 20% from February 2018 and down by less than 1% from February 2017.

However, new travel job vacancies slipped by 33% last month compared to January.

Despite this, last month’s total was comparable to previous Februarys, with a fall of 9% from February 2022.
 
It was also a slower month for placements, with the number of candidates being placed in new travel jobs falling back in February by 22% from the previous month and by 29% from February 2022.

Barbara Kolosinska, managing director at C&M Travel Recruitment, said: "February was a very mixed month for travel recruitment, with a much-welcome rise in new candidates, but a fall in both vacancies and placements.
 
"The industry is still crying out for talented travel candidates, so the increased number of job seekers that we have seen in both January and February are a great first step, but we need these strong figures to continue throughout the early months of 2023 and beyond."