Average travel salaries rise to highest this decade
Average travel salaries rose last year to their highest this decade, but dipped at executive level.
According to the 2015 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, the average new travel job carried a salary of £25,172 – 1.46% higher than in 2014 and the highest since the index began in 2009.
But at a senior level, there was a significant drop of 8.77% in average travel salaries to £53,295.
This was the first fall in five years and followed a weak late summer and autumn period for the executive market.
Meanwhile, new standard travel jobs came with an average wage of £20,741 in 2015, up annually by 5.27% following a dip of 1.03% in 2014 and a rise of 3.21% in 2013.
Barbara Kolosinska, director at both companies, said there is no indication that average wages have peaked yet.
"The situation is even better for anyone looking for or working in a standard job in the travel industry, as these positions saw a 5.27% salary increase in 2015. This shows that some companies in the industry are certainly willing to pay the right price for the right candidate.
"However, it was a much weaker year for executive positions with salaries falling heavily. Although there was no decrease in the number of senior roles being made available, many companies took longer to commit to a hiring decision in 2015, leading to an overall dip in activity in executive recruitment. Luckily, 2016 has already got off to a very strong start."
The index also found that for the first time in four years, travel wages have risen faster in the south than in the north.
Salaries in the south rose by 3.40% to an average of £26,549 compared to a 1.14% rise to £21,900 in the north.
This means the north/south gap has now widened again to £4,649 after narrowing from £5,251 in 2012 to £4,234 in 2014.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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