Salaries in the travel industry will stay the same or fall this year for the first time since the terrorist attacks of 2001, the annual Salary Forecast from AA Appointments has revealed.
Average pay in retail travel agencies, business travel and tour operations across the UK are set to stay the same or fall by up to 11%.
The growing number of redundancies means the recruitment market is flooded with candidates, which results in salaries coming down and a shrunken jobs market.
AA Appointments managing director John Tolmie said: “We are already seeing people leaving the industry as the lack of travel jobs means they have to take other opportunities.
“Employers may feel they have no choice but to make redundancies in order to survive, but this will come back to haunt them in a few years when there is a real skills shortage in the industry.”
Institute of Travel and Tourism education and training chairwoman Claire Steiner said companies should try to hold on to skilled staff to avoid problems in the future.
“There will be redundancies but companies should try to retain staff for when bookings pick up. People will leave the industry and we will need to do a lot of work to attract people back to travel when things improve.”
The lack of jobs will also affect the number of graduates entering the travel industry, an issue that has already been a long-standing concern for the industry. Graduates will have to be realistic about their options, added Steiner.
“There will be a lot of graduates coming out in the next six months who will be up against stiff competition, but this means they have to think carefully about what skills they can offer and be flexible about what kind of job they’re looking for.”