The average wage for travel jobs has risen by 21% since pre-pandemic, according to a specialist recruitment company.
C&M Travel Recruitment said the average salary for new jobs in the industry in the first six months of this year stood at £33,445, which is 20.78% (or £5,755) higher than in the first six months of 2019.
C&M Travel Recruitment managing director Barbara Kolosinska hailed the “big increase”, adding: “Travel salaries are now finally catching up to those in other industries.”
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The average salary in the first half of this year rose by 12.58% compared with the first half of 2022.
Much of the increase was down to executive travel roles (those paying £40,000 and above), C&M Travel Recruitment said, with those jobs seeing a salary hike of 17.03% in the first half of 2023 compared with the same period last year, as well as a rise of 11.41% since pre-pandemic.
The average executive role had a salary of £58,737 in the first half of this year, which was up £8,548 from the start of 2022.
C&M Travel Recruitment said the wages of “standard” travel jobs (those paying below £40,000) rose by 5.99% in the past year, but were up by 18.02% compared with the first half of 2019.
The average salary for such roles stood at £29,290 in the first half of this year, which was up by £1,655 compared with the start of 2022 and up by £4,473 from the start of 2019.
The business travel sector saw an increase of 9.23% compared with the first half of last year, bringing the average salary to £32,034 – up by 23.33% compared with the first six months of 2019.
Kolosinska said: “One of the big barriers to attracting talent in the travel industry has always been the comparatively low salaries on offer.
“Travel’s seen as a fun and enjoyable sector to be in, but would you take a pay cut to work there? Well, thankfully, we’re now seeing a big increase in wages across the whole industry.”
She added: “With a 21% rise since before the pandemic and a 12.5% jump in the last year alone, travel salaries are now finally catching up to those in other industries.
“It’s still very much a candidate-driven market with a lack of experienced applicants, but this big jump in salaries should help to entice quality talent to explore the many excellent career opportunities out there right now.”
Recruitment activity in the first six months of this year has fallen compared with 2022, C&M Travel Recruitment said.
Vacancies were down by 35% compared with 2022 and down by 16% from the start of 2019.
According to the House of Commons Library, food prices were 17.3% higher in June 2023 compared with a year before, while domestic gas prices rose by 36% and domestic
electricity prices by 17% between June 2022 and June 2023.