People have recently been more inclined to take a holiday to escape the pressures of rising industry costs.

People are increasingly booking holidays and choosing to cut back on other leisure services such as gyms and restaurants, according to a recent consumer services industry report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

The travel services industry was the only sub-sector to grow in the past three months, while all other services reported sinking profits and business volumes – at their worst levels since 2001.

Leisure and personal care services witnessed a record drop in profitability, and demand for services such as gyms, hairdressers and cinemas fell dramatically. Employment within the industry has also fallen two quarters in a row.

Ian McCafferty, CBI’s Chief Economic Adviser, explained the reason for the growth in the travel services sector: “Travel companies reported healthy demand for holidays in the past three months, with people more inclined to take a well-earned break as rising costs put greater demands on household spending.

“Services sector firms are concerned about their business prospects. Consumers are reining in spending on leisure, entertainment and eating out, while professionals offering services such as accountancy, property and law have seen their profits flatten off as costs continue to grow strongly.”

Despite the fall in profits for the majority of consumer-facing companies, the CBI has predicted that the number of those employed should rise in the next quarter, as firms “plan modest job increases”. The organisation also reported healthy employment and profit growth in the telecoms and IT sector, along with a record rise in profit for marketing companies.