The new year for the hotel industry appears to be starting off on a positive, with employment prospects for the sector looking up.
According to the latest Employment Outlook Survey from recruitment company Manpower, some 8% of hotel businesses plan to take on new staff in the first three months of 2004.
The figure is one percentage point up on the last quarter of 2003, but down by two percentage points year-on-year. Manpower said the result was "considerably higher" than the first-quarter average for the sector over the past 12 years. Over that period, employment prospects for the hotel industry had fallen by 5%.
Compared with the rest of Europe, the UK shows the second-strongest prospects for employment growth in the sector. Norway tops the poll, with 10% of its hotel companies planning to take on new staff during the first three months of this year.