New data from C&M Travel Recruitment found the volume of job seekers has now increased for three consecutive months and has reached a peak last seen in March 2018.

There was also a monthly rise in new travel job vacancies which edged up by 10% from February.

Despite being down by 63% from last March’s all-time record figure, March 2023’s total was comparable to previous years, and stands just 12% below March 2019.

Yet it was a contrasting month for placements, with the number of candidates being placed in travel jobs falling by 47% from the 10-year high recorded last March.

Compared with previous years, last month’s total was up by 81% from March 2020, but down by 19% from March 2019.

Barbara Kolosinska, managing director at C&M Travel Recruitment, said: "To see that candidate registrations have reached a five-year high is very, very welcome news.

"But we’re in a strange position because despite there being a big increase in the number of new applicants, we’re still in an extremely candidate-driven market."
 
Kolosinska advised travel companies looking to attract new talent to "act fast", because the "best candidates are being snapped up extremely quickly".