jobfacts

Travel agent

Travel agents — SOC 2020 6212

Travel agents advise travellers upon travel arrangements, make bookings and receive payment for travel arrangements made.

Also calledTravel consultantReservation agentBooking agentTravel clerkReservations clerkReservations agentand 37 more titles
Typical full-time pay£28,7002025 Provisional
People in the job27,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month659↓ 9.5%on last year · 235th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time travel agents earn between £25,400 and £37,500 a year.

What full-time travel agents earn, 2025
£28,700 typical£23,400lowest 10%£37,50075%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£25,400–£37,500)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£23,400
Lowest 20% earn less than£25,200
25%£25,400
Median£28,700
75%£37,500
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £28,700
London!£41,100
East Midlands!£36,800
East of England!£28,000
South East!£26,600
South West!£26,500
Scotland!£26,300
Yorkshire and The Humber!£25,800
North West!£25,300
North EastNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £28,700
London£41,100 (small sample)
East Midlands£36,800 (small sample)
East of England£28,000 (small sample)
South East£26,600 (small sample)
South West£26,500 (small sample)
Scotland£26,300 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£25,800 (small sample)
North West£25,300 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £29,800
  • 2024 £28,300
  • 2025 Provisional£28,700
↓ 3.4% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 659 jobs for travel agents are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (3 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026612
Jul 2026719
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026657
Apr 2026588
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026Not published
Jan 2026666
Dec 2025438
Nov 2025756
Oct 2025796
Sept 2025695
Aug 2025833
Jul 2025836
Jun 2025954
May 2025831
Apr 2025808
Mar 2025837
Feb 2025892
Jan 2025831
Dec 2024471
Nov 2024582
Oct 2024633
Sept 2024726
Aug 2024686
Jul 2024757
Jun 2024794
May 2024843
Apr 2024822
Mar 2024796
Feb 2024746
Jan 2024950
Dec 2023654
Nov 2023665
Oct 2023622
Sept 2023606
Aug 2023707
Jul 2023798
Jun 20231,102
May 20231,114
Apr 2023972
Mar 20231,140
Feb 20231,289
Jan 20231,312
Dec 20221,402
Nov 20221,255
Oct 20221,394
Sept 20221,273
Aug 20221,492
Jul 20221,558
Jun 20221,748
May 20221,787
Apr 20221,522
Mar 20221,533
Feb 20221,875
Jan 20221,504
Dec 20211,020
Nov 20211,066
Oct 20211,068
Sept 20211,054
Aug 2021849
Jul 2021940
Jun 2021661
May 2021604
Apr 2021385
Mar 2021613
Feb 2021254
Jan 2021226
Dec 2020259
Nov 2020237
Oct 2020259
Sept 2020264
Aug 2020210
Jul 2020217
Jun 2020217
May 2020169
Apr 2020372
Mar 20201,511
Feb 20202,297
Jan 20201,933
Dec 20191,511
Nov 20191,753
Oct 20191,923
Sept 20191,735
Aug 20191,918
Jul 20192,512
Jun 20192,421
May 20192,133
Apr 20191,436
Mar 20191,514
Feb 20191,509
Jan 20191,928
Dec 20181,224
Nov 20181,472
Oct 20181,940
Sept 20181,597
Aug 20181,455
Jul 20181,354
Jun 20181,438
May 20181,493
Apr 20181,257
Mar 20181,491
Feb 20181,704
Jan 20181,537
Dec 20171,332
Nov 20171,356
Oct 20171,438
Sept 20171,502
Aug 20171,444
Jul 20171,347
Jun 20171,890
May 20171,628
Apr 20171,676
Mar 20171,816
Feb 20171,528
Jan 20172,199
Is there a shortage of travel agents?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was elevated.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
20%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for leisure and travel services, which includes travel agents. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London518
Manchester87
Birmingham81
Glasgow City56
Leeds40
City of Edinburgh36
Cotswold33
Bristol, City of29
Liverpool29
Newcastle upon Tyne25
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where travel agents are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of travel agents
15%!
18%!
29%!
n/p
14%!
7.6%!
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–2415% (small sample)
25–3418% (small sample)
35–4429% (small sample)
45–54Not published
55–6414% (small sample)
65+7.6% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent54%
Higher education below degree!12%
A levels or equivalent!26%
GCSEs or equivalent!9.8%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent54%
Higher education below degree12% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent26% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent9.8% (small sample)

Main employers: travel agency activities (68%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
54%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 3
Apprenticeships take
1 year
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could do course in travel and tourism to give you some of the knowledge and skills needed for this job.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Travel Consultant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.

This takes around one year to complete, and combines work experience in a travel business with learning through a training provider.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

Work your way up

You can start as a trainee travel agent and receive on-the-job training from your employer.

There are no set entry requirements, but a good general standard of education is expected. Some employers may ask for English and maths GCSEs or equivalent. Good geographical knowledge will also be helpful.

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

It may help if you have customer service experience and can speak a second language.

Further information

You can find out more about careers in travel from the Institute of Travel & Tourism and Take Off in Travel.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for travel agent. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • discusses client requirements and shows brochures containing suitable packages
  • establishes availability with tour operators and makes bookings
  • consults travel time-tables, books travel tickets and accommodation
  • handles cash, debit and credit card payment
  • informs client of any changes in travel arrangements
  • advises on issues of currency, passports, visa requirements, insurance, car hire, vaccinations and other health precautions

Skills

  • maintain customer service
  • apply foreign languages in tourism
  • process booking
  • assist clients with special needs
  • maintain customer records
  • upsell products
  • communicate with customers
  • comply with food safety and hygiene
  • handle customer complaints
  • handle personal identifiable information
  • maintain working relationships
  • process payments
  • provide tourism related information
  • build business relationships

Knowledge

  • geographical areas relevant to tourism
  • local area tourism industry

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for leisure, travel and related personal service occupations, a group of 11 jobs that includes travel agents.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 5.6%about 41,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035421,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.