Travel’s high gender pay gap continues to widen, new data claims

Data published by Women in Hospitality, Travel & Leisure (WiHTL) shows that the gender pay gap – already the highest among the travel, hospital and leisure industries – has increased by 2%, rising to 22.4% over the past year. 

This is set against the hospitality sector reporting a 5.2% gap, which is relatively lower compared to the wider market, as well as a 1.6% decrease when it comes to the gender pay gap in the leisure sector. 

Figures showed the gap was exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis as one-off payments and bonuses given to staff to contrast inflationary pressures were mostly given to senior roles, the majority of which are held by men. 

“It is probably fair to say that the combination of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis also had a disruptive impact,” said Tea Colaianni, founder and chair of trade body Diversity in Retail. "To address this issue there needs to be a drive to introduce policies and practices that remove barriers to women returning to work after having children, along with a visible commitment to developing the pool of talented women for leadership roles.”