Travel firms boost benefits packages to recruit in competitive market

Staff benefits such as increased holiday entitlement, salary sacrifice and wellbeing days are increasingly being used by travel firms to attract staff, according to an employment webinar.

 

The latest ABC Webinar, jointly hosted by C&M Travel Recruitment, Travlaw and the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP), heard companies were redefining their benefits packages after conducting benefit audits and salary surveys to gauge what rivals were offering.

 

Barbara Kolosinska, managing director, C&M Travel Recruitment, said the market remained candidate-driven.

 

She told the webinar: “We have definitely noticed that holiday entitlement and allowances are going up.

 

“It used to be 20 days but a lot are now going to 22 days [annual leave], if not 25 days. And a lot are giving staff well-being days, with cash to spend, and more are doing salary sacrifice.”

 

‘Unlimited holidays’ were also being talked about, but she stressed: “I still don’t think we are ready for unlimited holidays in our sector.”

 

She said other benefits such as gym membership, healthcare, pension and bonuses were now “pretty standard” but noted the shift in benefit packages came as more job seekers demanded “tangible benefits” such as well-being practices or career development opportunities.

 

“People are looking for other things, not just [the] salary,” she said.

 

Claire Steiner, UK director of the GTTP, agreed, adding: “With the people I work with, I am seeing an increase in salary sacrifice but I am also seeing an increase in travel benefits.

 

“Staff travel benefits seem to be on the increase. They did take a dip, some companies dropped them, but they seem to be back.”

 

Kolosinska said she was also optimistic about 2026 in terms of travel recruitment despite some firms holding back on hiring staff and salaries rising at a slower rate than post-Covid.

 

She said: “In 2022, salaries went right up because we needed to attract people into the sector. They are still rising but at a slower level. I think it’s because of budgeting constraints.”

 

She added: “We have had a pretty good start to the year but I believe a lot of our business partners are holding back a bit [on recruitment].

 

“The main reason is budgets. In the last two years we have had a lot of changes coming in; national insurance and national minimum wage increasing, that’s had an impact on the bottom line. But I still think we’ll have a good year.”