With an average of £27,635, salaries for standard new travel jobs (those paying up to £40,000) jumped by more than £3,000 from £24,449 – which was recorded in the first six months of 2019. It was also up by 13.71% from the first half of 2021.
 
However, new executive travel roles (those paying more than £40,000) have seen an average drop in salary of 4.81% since 2019 and 2.63% since 2021 to stand at £50,189.
 
This has resulted in overall salaries for new travel jobs increasing by 5.25% in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period of 2019. With an average wage of £29,707, travel salaries remain in line with those seen at the beginning of last year – down by just £10 (0.03%).
 
Meanwhile, recruitment activity levels in the travel industry hit a record high during the first half of 2022, with the number of candidates being placed in new travel jobs jumping by 625% from 2021, by 25% from 2019 and by 12% from 2018.

Barbara Kolosinska, director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, said even though it may look like travel salaries have "unexpectedly" jumped in the past year, it has been "a long time coming".

"Travel has always been a comparatively poorly paid industry and, when you couple this with the current lack of available candidates, wages simply had to rise," she added.
 
"Travel companies are realising that it’s no longer acceptable to pay minimum wage to experienced candidates – and they’re also realising that they simply won’t be able to fill their job vacancies if they offer such derogatory salaries."