The latest activity figures from C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment showed the number of vacancies in May rose by 6% – the seventh consecutive monthly rise – leading to the company bringing back its entire team from furlough.

The total number of new vacancies in the three months from March to May 2021 was up by 143% on the previous quarter from December 2020 to February 2021. Job placements also rose by 125% over the same period.

But despite this improvement, last month’s level of vacancies in the travel industry was still 72% below the figure seen in May 2019.

C&M director Barbara Kolosinska said: “Despite frustrations about the scale of travel restrictions that remain in place, many travel companies are increasingly taking on top talent to help them cope with a rise in demand.

“We’ve seen travel job vacancies increase consistently since last November, and the market is now easily the busiest it has been since the start of the pandemic.

“Recruitment levels have picked up so much that we’ve now brought our full team back from furlough to help us deal with the extra activity – and we’re delighted to have them back.”

C&M also reported that the number of candidates looking for new jobs in travel had “remained steady” in May, although there was a 37% rise from March to May compared with the previous three months.