New measures announced by Abta today “should go some way” to helping members attract and retain employees, says chief executive Mark Tanzer.

Abta has released tailored social media campaigns, assets, training courses for new staff, work from HR experts and further “help in harnessing the knowledge and enthusiasm of recent graduates”.

Abta said these measures were produced as part of its “ongoing work” to ease recruitment pressures.

The trade association said social media had an important role to play in communicating to prospective staff.

The recruitment campaign will run on Abta’s own social media channels as well as on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Abta confirmed it was putting advertising spend behind the campaign to ensure social media users were aware of it.

The careers page on its website, which has live job opportunities and acts as a ‘mini-portal’ linking to other websites, has been updated, Abta added.

Tanzer (pictured) said: “Abta is keenly aware that our members, as well as many other sections of the travel industry, are facing serious challenges in a highly competitive recruitment market.

“The new measures we have announced today, together with a reminder of the services we already offer to our members, should go some way to helping attract staff to work in one the most rewarding and enjoyable of industries and build successful long-lasting careers.”

Members can also design assets from the marketing toolkit in its Member Zone section of abta.com to use in their own recruitment campaigns.

They also have access to a recruitment helpline which enables them to get advice.

Abta said new staff should benefit from quality training and its own events programme this autumn, which has “an increased focus on training to support people who are new to the sector and who quickly need to become familiar with all things travel”.