The number of people looking for jobs in travel rose to record levels last month despite average pay for newly advertised roles falling back.
Candidates flooded the travel jobs market in November with a 69% rise over the same month last year and a 5% increase over October’s levels.
It was also a positive month for vacancies with November’s total rising from the same month in 2016, although the figure fell compared to October – a trend that has occurred in every November for at least the last five years.
This came as average salaries declined by 3.39% to £25,127 – its lowest level since March – and dropped by 3.19% from a year ago.
However, standard travel industry pay grew by 3.58% to £23,425, a year-on-year rise of 1.97%.
This indicated that the overall fall in wages was a result of a reduced number of higher salaried placements made during the month.
It was also the second very strong month in a row for northern wages with a 5.72% increase in November following a 4.34% rise in October.
The average salary for a new travel job in the north of the UK now stands at £23,319 compared to £27,414 in the south.
Barbara Kolosinska, director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, which carried out the monthly travel salary research, said: “November usually signposts the start of the Christmas slowdown, but last month completely bucked the trend.
“More candidates searched for travel jobs this November than in any previous year on record, and we also saw an annual increase in the number of new roles being created.
“Of course, the surge in new job seekers that we’ve seen in recent months means that competition for the best roles is becoming fiercer, but there are still many fantastic opportunities available for quality candidates.”