- Lower-level travel roles see big wage hikes
- …But executive salaries dip
- Number of job placements rises 25% since pre-pandemic
Travel salaries jump sharply in 2022
Wages for the typical new job in travel have risen by a huge 13.03 per cent since before the pandemic, according to the 2022 H1 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the companies during the timeframe.
With an average of £27,635, salaries for standard new travel jobs (those paying up to £40,000) jumped by more than £3,000 from the figure of £24,449 recorded in the first six months of 2019. It was also up by 13.71 per cent from the first half of last year.
However, new executive travel roles (those paying more than £40,000) have seen an average drop in salary of 4.81 per cent since 2019 and 2.63 per cent since 2021 to stand at £50,189.
This has resulted in overall salaries for new travel jobs increasing by 5.25 per cent in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period of 2019. With an average wage of £29,707, travel salaries remain in line with those seen at the beginning of last year – down by just £10 or 0.03 per cent.
Record recruitment activity
Recruitment activity levels in the travel industry hit a record high during the first half of 2022, with the number of candidates being placed in new travel jobs jumping by 625 per cent from 2021, and up by 25 per cent from 2019, up by 12 per cent from 2018, up by 8 per cent from 2017, up by 15 per cent from 2016 and up by 52 per cent from 2015.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&M Travel Recruitment, said: "It may look like travel salaries have unexpectedly jumped in the past year, but this has been a long time coming. Travel has always been a comparatively poorly paid industry and, when you couple this with the current lack of available candidates, wages simply had to rise.
"Travel companies are realising that it's no longer acceptable to pay minimum wage to experienced candidates – and they're also realising that they simply won't be able to fill their job vacancies if they offer such derogatory salaries.
"We are also seeing many candidates handing in their notice and then being counter offered by their current company with significantly higher salaries in an effort to convince them to stay. This bidding war for top talent suggests that wages will continue to rise for at least the short-term.
"There continues to be a lack of experienced applicants in the marketplace, but with the record numbers of vacancies and the more attractive pay packets currently on offer, we expect many talented travel professionals will want to assess the fantastic variety of travel jobs on offer in the second half of the year."
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All figures are drawn from the salaries of the month’s new vacancies advertised with C&M Travel Recruitment.
C&M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).