- Travel wages rise 21 per cent since pre-pandemic
- Executive salaries outpacing standard travel roles
- Vacancies dip from 2022, but candidates rise
Wages continue fast climb
Salaries for new jobs in the travel industry continue to rise with an increase of 12.58 per cent in the first half of this year, according to the 2023 H1 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the company during the timeframe.
The jump takes the average wage for a new travel job to £33,445 – up a huge 20.78 per cent (or £5,755) from the first six months of 2019 (pre-pandemic).
Executive travel roles (those paying £40,000 and above) were responsible for much of the overall increase, with a salary hike of 17.03 per cent in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. The average figure of £58,737 is up £8,548 from the start of 2022.
Standard travel jobs (those paying below £40,000) rose by a smaller 5.99 per cent in the past year, although they were also up by 18.02 per cent from the first half of 2019. The average salary of £29,290 is up by £1,655 from the start of 2022 and up by £4,473 from the start of 2019.
It was a similar picture in the business travel sector with a 9.23 per cent increase from the first half of last year. The average new business travel job now comes with a salary of £32,034 - up by 23.33 per cent from the first six months of 2019.
Activity dips from 2022
After 2022's record highs, recruitment activity in the travel industry fell back in the first six months of this year. Vacancies were down by 35 per cent from 2022 and down by 16 per cent from the start of 2019. In contrast, the number of new candidates registering for travel jobs between January and June 2023 increased by 20 per cent from the same months last year and by 28 per cent from the same period in 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&M Travel Recruitment, 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 here? Well, thankfully, we're now seeing a big increase in wages across the whole industry.
"With a 21 per cent rise since before the pandemic and a 12.5 per cent 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."
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All figures are drawn from the salaries of 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 (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).