C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment said the total number of new jobs created in March was "easily the highest total" since the first impacts of the pandemic a year ago.

"[It] means the number of new travel vacancies has now increased for five months in a row," said C&M.

New travel vacancies remain 74% down on March 2019 levels, though, which C&M said was indicative of how far the travel industry yet has to go before achieving a full recovery.

However, the March 2021 figure for new jobs was down by only a "relatively light" 18% compared with the same month last year, the end of which was C&M noted was "severely impacted" by the onset of Covid-19.

March candidate numbers were down 2% month-on-month, and remain down a quarter on where they were last March.

It was, however, a positive month for placements, with more candidates placed in new travel roles in March than at any point since the start of the pandemic.

The March 2021 total for placements beat the previous high from last October, and was up nearly three times the number from February 2021.

C&M director Barbara Kolosinska said: "The short-term outlook for the UK’s travel industry remains unclear.

However, we have now had five consecutive months of increasing travel vacancies which indicates that things are gradually picking up, forward bookings are being made, and travel companies are now looking to take on new talent to cope with the increased demand.

"Activity levels remain well down on what we were used to seeing before the pandemic began, but recent weeks have been very encouraging, with April also starting strongly."