Men still paid 14pc more than women in travel

Women are still paid less than men in the travel industry, despite a 163% increase in the number of women in higher salary positions over the past two years.

Research by C&M Travel Recruitment found that women fill 53% of all executive positions paying £40,000 and above, up from 38% in 2018.

Overall, they were awarded 69% of all new travel jobs in 2019.

But the average male worker still earns just over 14% more.

While this is an improvement on 2018 when the pay gap was just over 18%, it’s worse than in 2017 when it was less than 13%.

C&M said the pay gap was almost entirely a result of the big difference in pay awarded to the higher earners in the industry.

For entry-level roles, men earn 1% more than women, a difference of £183 a year, however the situation is reversed for mid-level positions with women out-earning men by 0.5%, a gap of £136.

The pay gap for senior travel roles is a slightly larger 1.4%, with the men taking home an average of £32,463, or £437 more their female equivalent.

The salary gap for higher-paid roles is almost 12%, meaning men earn an average of £6,228 more than women.

C&M Director Barbara Kolosinska said: "It’s obviously good to see that the gender pay gap narrowed last year, but a difference of 14.2% is still nothing at all to celebrate. What is positive is the increase in women being awarded higher-paid executive roles in travel. However, women in these senior roles are continuing to be paid far less than their male equivalents – with the gap actually increasing from 2018.

"While there is some good news to be found in these figures, the big question of course is what impact the Covid-19 pandemic will have on the gender pay gap. We don’t yet have enough data to confidently predict the outcome, but the concern is that it will create a setback, with men being increasingly favoured for new placements instead of women due to the extra childcare commitments created by the pandemic. If this proves to be the case, it remains to be seen whether this will have a short or long-term impact on gender equality in our industry."

Claire Osborne, Chair at The Association of Women Travel Executives, added: "It’s encouraging to see the gender pay gap continues to close in many areas within the travel industry, but it’s clear that we still have some way to go before we achieve parity – particularly in the executive level roles where the gap is at its widest, with many women effectively still working for free for the last six weeks of every year.

"The gap at entry level is now very low, possibly indicating women are valuing themselves more highly as they come into the industry which gives some hope for the future as they progress in their careers.

"The number of women gaining opportunities in our industry is also encouraging, especially seeing that the disparity at senior level is closing, with women taking more than 50 per cent of new appointments. The more women we have involved in decision making will bring us closer to a level playing field.

"As Barbara mentions, it’s unclear how the Covid-19 pandemic will impact women in the industry, as roles are cut and fewer opportunities become available. So here at AWTE we will be focusing on offering support to our members to help them focus on positive action and maintaining and growing their network in travel."