New figures from C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment reveal that while there are now substantially more women entering travel than men, they are still routinely being paid less than men.

While travel’s gender pay gap narrowed in 2019, male workers still earned 14.2% more than their female counterparts in a typical new travel job in 2019 – this compares to a gap of 18.4% in 2018 and 12.8% in 2017.

The gap though largely remains a result of the significantly difference in pay between men and women in travel’s higher-earning roles.

At entry-level, men earned 1% more than the average woman in 2019 (£19,152, a difference of £183). However, this situation was reversed for mid-level positions, with women out-earning men by 0.5% (£25,392, a difference of £136).

The pay gap for senior travel roles was slightly larger at 1.4%, with the average man earning £32,463 – £437 more than women in roles of the same level of seniority.

However, at executive level, C&M found there still be a "significant difference" in pay between men and women, a gap that is growing.

Among those in higher-paid executive roles, the average man earned £55,278 in 2019 – £6,228 more than a woman in a comparable role, a pay gap of 11.94%. This is up from a gap of 10.6% (£5,742) in 2018.

Women were awarded the majority of all available roles in travel in 2019 across all levels of the industry; 69% of all new travel jobs in 2019 went to men, and 53% of all executive positions – those paying £40,000 or more – which is up from 38% in 2018.

More than 70% of all junior roles (those paying below £22,000) went to women, as did 73% of all mid-level positions (paying £22,000 to £29,999) and 70% of all senior roles (paying between £30,000 and £39,999).

C&M director Barbara Kolosinska said that while it was encouraging to see the broader pay gap narrow, "a difference of 14.2% is still nothing at all to celebrate".

"What is positive is the increase in women being awarded higher-paid executive roles in travel," she said. "However, women in these senior roles are continuing to be paid far less than their male equivalents – with the gap actually increasing from 2018."

Kolosinska said while it remained to be seen what effect the coronavirus crisis would have on travel’s gender pay gap, she feared progress would be set back with employers preferring to offer roles to men instead of women "due to the extra childcare commitments created by the pandemic".

"If this proves to be the case, it remains to be seen whether this will have a short or long-term impact on gender equality in our industry," Kolosinska added.

’Level playing field’

Claire Osborne, chair of the Association of Women Travel Executives, added: "It’s encouraging to see the gender pay gap close in many areas within the travel industry, but it’s clear we still have some way to go before we achieve parity - particularly in the executive level roles where the gap is at its widest, with many women effectively still working for free for the last six weeks of every year.

"The gap at entry level is now very low, possibly indicating women are valuing themselves more highly as they come into the industry which gives some hope for the future as they progress in their careers.

"The number of women gaining opportunities in our industry is also encouraging, especially seeing that the disparity at senior level is closing, with women taking more than 50% of new appointments. The more women we have involved in decision making will bring us closer to a level playing field."