Salary study shows glaring gender inequality in travel

Women in travel are still earning less than their male equivalents at every level, except in junior roles.

This was the finding of new research by C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment.

Their study found women starting new executive roles earn, on average, 7.56% less than men in executive roles – £47,571 a year compared to £51,167.

Women in senior roles (those paying between £30,000 and £39,999) earned 1.54% less than men in senior roles, and the figure was 3.21% less for mid-level positions.

Only women in junior travel roles are better paid, but by a marginal 0.53%, or £96. The average salary for a junior role was £18,126 for women, compared to £18,030 for men.

The study was based on figures for the first four months of this year.

"It feels as though we’ve been talking about the gender pay gap forever and yet our new figures show that the problem is still prevalent in the travel industry," said Barbara Kolosinska, director at both firms.

"Thankfully, the gap has all but disappeared for entry level and junior roles, but women are still routinely earning less than men for the average mid-level or senior position.

"When female executives are typically earning £3,500 less than men in similar roles, it is evident that we have an issue. The travel industry is a fantastic place for both women and men to work, and I believe we have a far better attitude and approach to gender equality than many other industries, but it is clear that more can still be done."

The study also found that females accounted for 67% of all new travel placements in the first quarter and now outnumber men at all levels of the industry.

In total, females accounted for 75% of all junior placements, 66% of all mid-level appointments, 51% of all senior positions and 54% of all executive placements.

"Our figures show that more women have been appointed in senior and executive roles than men so far this year and that is a truly encouraging finding," said Kolosinska,

"We have become used to seeing men hold the majority of high-powered jobs in the UK, but it seems that the travel industry could be the exception. These figures are in contrast to those from the start of last year, so whether this proves to be a long-term trend or merely a short-term blip will be fascinating to see and we will be keeping a close eye on this throughout the rest of 2017."