Travel’s recruitment crisis means it can no longer offset lower pay rates with the promise of overseas visits and other perks, recruiting experts say, with the industry at the same time being warned that it isn’t “looking in the right places” for talent.

An expert panel at the recent World Travel Market in London heard how hundreds of thousands of vacancies were not being filled because travel brands, post-pandemic, could not afford salaries offered elsewhere, while staff let go during COVID had found better pay and conditions outside the industry.

Sarah Hillman, Global Head of CRM and Data at The Travel Corporation said salaries this summer had been “crazy.”

“There was no way we could compete,” she said. She advised companies to “think about recruitment exactly as you think about sales. It’s more like a sales pitch than it was in the past.”

Chris King, chief executive of Lightning Travel Recruitment, said the days when employee complaints could be “brushed under the rug in lieu of a nice fam trip or a champagne lunch” were gone.

“We lost a lot of amazing talent to industries that look after their staff and pay better,” King said.

The Travel and Tourism Council estimated there are 128,000 unfilled vacancies in the travel and hospitality sector in the UK alone, but Alessandra Alonso, founder of Women in Travel, described the number as a “gross underestimation.”

Despite the salary discrepancies, Justine Paech, associate director, Michael Page Technology, which recruits across several sectors, said there were ways firms could make themselves more attractive.

She advised: “You need to differentiate yourself; it’s not just about salaries, it’s about core values – what are you doing to move with the times?”

Offering flexible working, parental and study leave were perks to be considered, but King said more could be done to send messages generally. King gave the example of Virgin Atlantic’s gender-neutral cabin crew uniform policy, which had seen applications double compared to competitors because applicants appreciated the airline supporting minorities.

“If your board is all middle-aged white men, they are not going to apply,” King said, adding video was a good way of allowing staff to use storytelling to attract new employees.

The panel heard younger applicants were now often asking about diversity and inclusion ahead of salaries. Alonso said often travel did not look “in the right places,” with pools of eager talents in areas she worked with, including refugees and domestic abuse victims.