C&M’s Kolosinska: ‘Salaries in the travel industry have been too low for too long’
C&M Travel Recruitment’s 2023 travel salary index reveals average travel salaries went up by 11.6% last year to £34,156 – an increase of 21.1% compared with 2019. However, C&M’s data reveals the disparity between lower and higher-paid roles is growing, with wages rising faster for those at the top.
Wages for executive travel roles – those paying £40,000 and above – increased by 6.5% (£3,364) to an average of £55,085 in 2023, while those in new travel jobs with salaries of £60,000 (or above) saw their wages increase by an average of 11.1% (£8,355) last year.
By contrast, pay for standard travel roles – those paying up to £40,000 – increased by only just over 4% last year to £29,701 (up 19.1% compared with 2019). And for mid-level jobs, those paying between £22,001 and £29,999, pay increased by less than 1% last year and has only gone up by just over 4.5% (£1,155) since 2019. This is below the rate of inflation.