LONDON - s4story --

• Average wages rise 1.8 per cent in 2025
• Senior roles see biggest pay increase
• Travel pay has risen 37 per cent since 2021
• Dip in annual recruitment activity

Travel wages rise at slower rate

Salaries for the average job in the travel industry rose by 1.78 per cent in 2025 to set a new high of £37,695, according to the 2025 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the company during the year.

This was the fourth successive year of wage increases, with the Covid-affected year of 2021 being the only year to not record annual growth since 2014.

However, 2025's rise of 1.78 per cent (or £659) was significantly slower than that of recent years which saw increases of 8.43 per cent (or £2,880) in 2024, 11.56 per cent (or £3,539) in 2023 and 11.53 per cent (or £3,166) in 2022. Average wages for a new job in the travel industry have risen by more than a third since 2021 with growth of 37.32 per cent or £10,244.

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Last year's increase was largely driven by the 8.23 per cent rise in pay for senior travel roles (those paying £40,000 or above), with a particular jump in the number of positions paying £80,000 or more.

In contrast, salaries for standard travel jobs (those paying up to £39,999) dipped for the first time in four years with a 1.84 per cent annual fall. Despite this, wages for the average standard new travel job have risen by 25.73 per cent (or £6,247) since 2021.

Recruitment activity eases

The travel recruitment sector saw small falls in activity across all metrics last year, with placements dipping by three per cent, new candidates easing by seven per cent and vacancies slipping by 13 per cent compared to 2024.

In contrast, it was a much busier year for business travel with a 65 per cent increase in job placements in the sector in 2025. Salaries for corporate travel jobs dipped by 8.89 per cent in the past year, however they have risen by 14.41 per cent since 2021 and by 26.43 per cent since the last pre-pandemic year of 2019.

C&M Travel Recruitment (http://www.candm.co.uk/)