Figures published by the firm on Thursday (23 January) show the average salary for new travel jobs increased by 8.4% year-on-year to more than £37,000 last year.
In fact, the average salary for new travel jobs has gone up by more than a third (34.92%) since 2021, although the pace has slowed a little following uplifts of 11.53% in 2022 and 11.56% in 2023.
"Following big increases in 2022 and 2023, we saw another very significant jump in wages in the travel industry last year,” said C&M managing director Barbara Kolosinska, who late last year also became co-owner of the business after partnering with sales director Duncan Tingle to complete a management buyout.
“Travel has never offered the best pay, so in order for us to be competitive with other industries, salaries had to rise – and this news should be welcomed across the sector.”
According to the data, there was 4.7% salary growth across standard roles paying below £40,000, while the number of travel jobs paying less than £30,000 a year dropped to 26.8%.
Meanwhile, the proportion of people securing executive roles incrased to to 28.1% last year, even though placements for roles paying above £40,000 fell by 5.14% last year.
The industry hit a recruitment slump last year, dipping by 5% after rising for the previous two years.
Placements initially decreased by 21% and vacancies dropped by 27%, but both rallied in the second part of the year, finishing 6% and 18% down compared with the second half of 2023.
“With the peaks season performing well, many travel companies are looking to ramp up their recruitment across the coming months, which will create great opportunities for candidates as well as increased competition to secure the top talent,” Kolosinska added.
