Average wages for new travel jobs dipped for the first time in seven years.
According to the 2021 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, last year’s average of £27,451 fell by 2.96% from 2020 and 2.64% from 2019.
However it remains up by 2.22% from 2018.
There was a sharper fall in pay for standard new travel jobs (oof salaries up to £40,000) which averaged £24,280 in 2021 – a fall of 6.12% from 2020.
Salaries for executive travel roles (paying above £40,000) also fell, but at a slower rate.
Last year’s average figure of £55,474 was down by 2.79$ from 2020.
The number of new travel job vacancies increased by 127% last year from 2020, but is still down by 42% compared to 2019.
However, much of this difference is due to the very slow first few months of 2021 when the country was still under lockdown.
When comparing the second half of the year, vacancies recorded between July and December 2021 fell by only 3%.
Looking at the last six months of the year, placements in 2021 were down by 27% from the same period in 2019.
Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, said: "2021 really did feel like a year of two halves, with activity picking up swiftly and dramatically from early summer onwards – and, thankfully, that momentum is continuing into 2022."
"Given that we are currently experiencing a candidate shortage in the travel industry, it is slightly concerning to also see that salaries have fallen annually for the first time in a number of years. Hopefully we will see more companies begin to improve their salaries and overall packages in an effort to attract great talent."
