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Executive pay in the travel industry rose by almost 5% while salaries for standard roles suffered a small fall, latest figures show.
The average executive travel job – paying £40,000 or more – came with a salary of £58,418.
This was the highest figure ever seen in the travel salary index produced by C&M Travel Recruitment and Chisholm & Moore Executive Recruitment, and marked the fourth successive year of growth.
However, wages for standard travel positions below £40,000 fell by 1.03% to stand at £19,702, yet this remained 2.15% above the 2012 average.
As a result, overall salaries in the travel industry were broadly static last year with a dip of just 0.08% to reach an average of £24,810.
Company director Barbara Kolosinska said: “It was a great year for those searching for new executive travel roles, with the average salary being five per cent, or £2,778, higher than in 2013.
“Early signs suggest that 2015 could be even stronger, with executive salaries rising to a three-year high last month, so it is clear that many travel companies are currently willing to increase their salary packages in order to attract the best senior members for their team.
“However, overall there was a very small dip in travel salaries in 2014, but this is almost entirely a result of the weak start to the year. In fact, since May, salaries have risen by 2.88% compared to the same months in 2013 – which is a far more encouraging indicator for the year ahead!”
Despite average wages for travel jobs remaining considerably higher in the south (£25,676) than in the north (£21,442), the gap has closed for the third successive year. Salaries rose in the north of the country by 1.59% in 2014, compared to a 0.64% fall in the south.
“This is the third year in a row that northern salaries have closed the gap on southern ones,” said Kolosinska.
“Travel wages remain an average of 19.75% higher in the south than in the north but they were 25.98% greater as recently as 2012, so a trend is clearly developing.
“This potentially means that the travel jobs market in the north of the UK becomes increasingly competitive this year as more people are attracted to the wages on offer in the likes of Manchester and Aberdeen.”
Candidates and vacancy numbers saw a small dip with a 1.42% fall in registrations and a 3.30% dip in new travel roles.
However, both measures ended the year strongly with year-on-year growth recorded across the last six months of 2014.