First-Ever Study Shows Travel Jobs Offer Better Career Progression and Benefits

Travel jobs provide millions of Americans with a gateway to a promising career and opportunity to join America's middle class

December 4, 2012

Washington, D.C. - Workers who begin their careers in travel achieve higher wages, have greater access to educational opportunities and enjoy better career progression, according to a first-of-its-kind study of more than 30 years of longitudinal data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and analyzed by Oxford Economics and the U.S. Travel Association.

"The data is conclusive: workers whose first job is in the travel industry progress further in their careers than individuals who get their start in other industries, and travel industry work experience helps Americans earn higher wages and attain an education," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "Travel jobs provide important, transferable skills that are indispensable to career success, and careers in travel deliver financial security with the majority of travel industry workers earning a middle-class income or higher."

Titled Fast Forward: Travel Creates Opportunities and Launches Careers, the report presents case studies and summarizes BLS labor force data on how travel jobs benefit workers and how careers in the industry progress over time compared to workers who began in other industries. (BLS has tracked more than 5,000 workers, interviewing them every year between 1979 and 1994, and every two years between 1994 and 2010.)

Key findings include:

• Earning Higher Wages: The average maximum salary for employees who start their career in the travel industry reaches $81,900 - significantly more than other industries.
• Promoting Educational Opportunities: One-third of the 5.6 million Americans who are employed part time to support themselves while they further their education work in the travel industry. Among workers who began their careers in the travel industry, 33 percent earned at least a bachelor's degree.
• Building the Middle Class: The travel industry is one of the top 10 largest employers of middle-class wage earners in the U.S. More than half of all travel industry employees (53 percent) earn a middle-class salary or higher.
• Leading to Rewarding Careers: Employees who work in travel jobs build valuable skills that can translate into rewarding careers, both in travel and other industries. Two out of five workers who start their careers in the travel industry go on to earn more than $100,000 per year.

"In recent years, the travel industry has quietly emerged as one of America's leading drivers of growth and job creation," said David Huether, senior vice president for research and economics at U.S. Travel. "Every dollar spent on travel has a ripple effect benefitting other sectors of the economy. In fact, the travel industry injects $1.9 trillion into the U.S. economy and supports 14.4 million jobs."

The full report is available at: www.ustravel.org/jobs.

Contact:
Cathy Keefe 202-408-2183

The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry that generates $1.9 trillion in economic output and supports 14.4 million jobs. U.S. Travel's mission is to increase travel to and within the United States.