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UK agent numbers dip but smaller businesses grow


Official figures reveal employment trends across travel sector including a drop in agents’ average salary to £26,884. Lee Hayhurst reports


Growth in the number of travel agency businesses in the UK is being fuelled by microbusinesses employing between one and nine people, government figures show.


Office for National Statistics


(ONS) data obtained by Travel Weekly sister publication Travolution shows only travel


agencies in the smallest-sized band are growing in number.


80travelweekly.co.uk21 February 2019 The figures reveal there were


4,250 firms registered as travel agencies in the UK in 2018 and that number is predicted to rise to 4,415 this year. For 2019, growth is predicted


only for agencies employing one to nine people (3,810 to 3,980), while those with 100-999 staff are predicted to fall from 60 to 55. The overall rise in the number of firms is in contrast to travel agency


employee numbers, which fell from 60,668 in 2017 to 60,105 in 2018. In 2019, it is predicted travel


agent employee numbers will drop again, below 60,000 for the first time since 2013, to 59,809. The ONS data also reveals


agents’ average salaries have been rising steadily since 2009, when they were under £20,000. However, in 2018 they fell to £26,884 from £27,820 in 2017. The average salary in the UK is £28,677 for full-time employees. The average salary for the travel sector, including tour operators,


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