That was the message from a panel of senior industry figures and recently graduated travel and tourism students.

Speaking on the second day of the ITT Conference in Sorrento, Jeannette Linfoot, managing director Saga Tour Operating Division, told delegates: “We have to attract talent, and we have to nurture talent.

“There are challenges – not all companies have graduation schemes for example,” she said. “But there are also opportunities”.

Linfoot said these included the “wealth of digital, social media and technology skills” that new entrants to the sector can bring.

Claire Steiner, chair of the education and training committee at the ITT said the sector needed to look at different ways to help graduates wanting to join the industry.

“There are so many different ways that we can work with these students as they are studying. Give them projects to do for instance,” she urged delegates.

“We have to be more proactive if we’re going to win this war on talent, and this war is real,” she warned.

It came as Alex White, UK vice president of sales at Carnival, admitted that graduates had been a “casualty of the recession”.

“This is something that we want to put right,” he said. “So in September we will have 10 graduates joining us [at Carnival]. We also currently have 30 apprentices and we will be taking on another 30 in September.”

Meanwhile Jessica Iona Krawiec, a student at Manchester Metropolitan University urged companies to ensure their application processes were fair and relevant to the job.

“We want more interaction from employers. If we don’t get a job or interview, tell us why. We also find that applications are often outdated, with psychometric tests, that you wouldn’t have to use in the job role,” she added.