New data from C&M Travel Recruitment shows that during the first half of the year, starting salaries for senior travel roles earning more than £40,000 increased by 7.39% to £58,230.
This is more than double the increase in the average salary for a new job in the travel industry over the same period, C&M’s 2025 H1 Travel Salary Index reveals, with the 3.1% figure four times lower than the 12.86% and 12.58% jumps seen during the first six months of 2024 and 2023 respectively.
The overall increase means the average pay for a new travel job now stands at £38,919, an increase of £1,172 since the first half of last year.
This growth has been driven by increases in wages for jobs paying more than £40,000, while there has been a significant increase in the number of new positions paying more than £60,000, which now account for 13% of all new roles compared with 5% in 2024.
Meanwhile, standard travel jobs paying less than £40,000 dipped by 1.56% – £487 – to £30,788. This compares with an increase of 6.78% in 2024, which followed growth of 5.99% in 2023.
However, the drop has not impacted the overall trend towards growth in wages for standard travel jobs, which C&M’s data shows have gone up by 19.04% – £4,925 – over the past five years.
The fall in standard travel wages was also not as bad as the decrease in business travel salaries, which fell £1,502 – 4.17% – in the first half of 2025 to £34,544. Despite this decrease in wages, there was still a 12% increase in the number of candidates being placed in new business travel jobs.
C&M Travel Recruitment co-owner and managing director Barbara Kolosinska said the number of candidates, job openings and job placements all fell by 6% in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024.
"Salaries in the travel industry have now risen consistently for the past four years, which is great to see," said Kolosinska. "Travel has always been an attractive sector to work in, but has historically been underpaid. But with these increases in wages, we are now in a much better position to compete with other industries for the best candidates out there.
"However, the small fall in pay for standard travel job is less welcome news. Wages for these positions need to at least match the rate of inflation or our industry risks missing out on top graduates who could otherwise have a long and fulfilling career within travel.
"It’s also disappointing to see the small falls in activity in the first half of the year. While the dips are only in single digits, they follow larger falls in the first half of last year. This is due to a variety of factors including economic pressures, rising employer costs, and a post-pandemic correction in hiring following the recruitment boom between autumn 2021 and summer 2023.
"We will be keeping a close eye on activity this autumn and winter as we hopefully see levels increase."
