Executive-level salaries drive average industry pay past pre-pandemic levels
Will PayneSalaries of the top earners in the travel industry were the driving force behind the sector’s pay average jumping 13% in the first half of 2023, according to new data.
C&M Travel Recruitment’s 2023 H1 Travel Salary Index found executive roles (those paying £40,000 and above) saw a salary hike of 17.03% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, with the average figure of £58,737 up £8,548 from the start of 2022.
Salaries for new jobs in the travel industry continue to rise with an increase of 12.58% in the first half of this year. The jump takes the average wage for a new travel job up to £33,445 – up 20.78% (or £5,755) from the first six months of 2019 (pre-pandemic).
Standard travel jobs (those paying below £40,000) rose by a smaller 5.99% in the past year, although they were also up by 18.02% 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.
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However, 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% from 2022 and down by 16% from the start of 2019. In contrast, the number of new candidates registering for travel jobs between January and June 2023 increased by 20% from the same months last year and by 28% from the same period in 2019.
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 there? Well, thankfully, we’re now seeing a big increase in wages across the whole industry."
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