Salaries for the average new job in travel jumped by a “huge” 11.5% last year to reach a record £30,617, according to the 2022 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment.
The figure comes from a survey of all new vacancies registered with the company during the year – and was up by 8.6% on the last pre-pandemic year of 2019.
The rise was even greater for standard new travel jobs – those paying up to £40,000 – which increased annually by 17.4% to stand at an average of £28,496. It was up by 14.3% from 2019.
However, salaries for the average new senior travel role – those paying £40,000 and above – dipped by 6.8% in 2022.
This was largely due to an increasing number of roles in the £40,000-£45,000 range which pushed down the overall average salary for senior positions.
The number of people placed in new travel jobs jumped by 181% in 2022 to reach a near-record high.
The figure was higher than every other year since the index began in 2012, apart from 2017.
The number of new travel job vacancies was up by 96% in 2022 year on year and reached the second highest level since the index began
Barbara Kolosinska, managing director at C&M Travel Recruitment, said: “Whichever we look at it, 2022 was a historic year for travel recruitment.
“After suffering hugely as a result of the pandemic, we all needed 2022 to be a bumper year – and was it ever.
“Last year set numerous records for vacancies and job placements, with spring and summer 2022 being the busiest period for travel recruitment that we have ever seen in the past 25 years.
“Almost all companies in the travel industry searched for new employees last year and we’re seeing very few signs of this changing as we begin 2023.
“The last 12 months have also seen travel salaries rise to a record high with a huge 11.5% year-on-year jump.
“The shortage of talented candidates continues to be the biggest challenge, but with wages increasing and great new roles being created every day, the next year will hopefully be another extremely healthy one for travel recruitment.”
C&M said 2022 was also an “impressive” year for business travel recruitment, with the number of candidates placed in business travel jobs jumping by a huge 1,387% from 2021 and by 174% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
There was also a big increase in salaries for new business travel jobs, which stood at an average of £30,241 in 2022 – up by 2.5% from 2021 and 11.5% higher than 2019.
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