After some four to five years of economic depression, the Irish travel industry is emerging from the darkness of the recession – if job opportunities within the travel industry can be used as a barometer, then the industry is back in a growth phase, according to David Fitzsimons of APB.ie Recruitment, which is celebrating 26 years in business. 
“APB.ie is witnessing a growing demand for experienced staff at all levels,” said David. “In particular, there is strong demand for corporate travel staff and, because there is not enough applicants to fill all the available vacancies, astute employers are looking at candidates with leisure travel experience who are willing to switch over to the corporate travel side of the business. This is a real and practical solution to filling these vacancies, as most leisure travel staff do have the technical skills and knowledge to successfully make the transition within a relatively short timeframe.
“There is also a steady demand for long-haul travel staff with expertise in honeymoons, tailor-made itineraries and cruise bookings. There is obviously a steady demand for luxury and up-market holidays, despite the austerity to which we have all been subjected.
“Watch out for returning immigrants, especially from Australia, New Zealand and the UK, where many people who left Ireland to find work are now seeking to come home. Those who continued their careers within the travel business in these countries are now in strong demand and are being snapped up on their return to this country. In some instances, we have placed such candidates before they even arrived back here by using just telephone interviews or Skype.
“We are now at the stage where you will need to ‘waitlist’ your vacancy in order to fill the position with the right candidate. So if you have a need for more staff, don’t just wait for them to come to you, register your vacancy with APB.ie today and be in line to capture some fresh new talent as soon as they become available!”
David Fitzsimons can be contacted on 01 204 2800 or at [email protected] .
Hopefully this will see an increase in salary for the hard working professionals in our industry. High standards and sales don’t come cheap and neither should they.