Policy pillars Products muct be simple to understand
T
here are multiple differences in the travel insurance markets of Europe – both in terms of the types of products offered and the way they
are distributed, says Axel de Contenson, AIG travel manager West Zone, but he identifies “two main business pillars” of the pan-European market.
“The first is made up of multinational business – which consists of tour operators, airlines and online travel agents (OTAs). Multinational clients usually look for a standard travel insurance solution that they are able to offer with the same, or very similar, benefits in each of their countries. “The other is local business, such as high
street travel agents. This market varies hugely from country to country in terms of the types of products, what they typically cover and also how consumers are able to access them. “Policy wordings are a good example – in
Nordic countries you will often find that all policy exemptions are clearly listed. This means that if something isn’t listed, you are not covered for it. However, if you look at a standard wording for trip cancellation in France it is the opposite – the majority of causes are covered with a few defined exceptions. “Recently, we worked with a big tour operator in one European country which
FIGURE 57:
VISITOR NIGHTS BY DESTINATION: 2016
million
100 150 200 250 300
50 0
*2015 INTERNATIONAL million
100 150 200 250 300 350
50 0
Spain France Italy UK
Germany Austria Greece Croatia Portugal Turkey
Source: Eurostat
VISITOR NIGHTS: 2016
DOMESTIC million
100 200 300 400 500
0
International & domestic visitors
Europe’s travel insurance markets differ in their requirements and must comply with differing interpretations of regulations, says Axel de Contenson, AIG travel manager West Zone
was merging with one from another. At the outset both sides wanted to offer a standard product across Italy and France, but the benefits requested from both countries were different, as were their expectations, so this was impossible to achieve.”
Global arrangements Despite such differences between requirements across countries, multinational businesses will tend to seek global arrangements with an insurer and then negotiate any necessary differences with individual countries. De Contenson says: “Multinational
organisations usually want a simple, easy to understand product. Most of the time the products are sold online and each sale is completed within a few seconds, so it is important that the customer is able to understand the benefits and decide quickly if they want to buy it.” Sales also need to be profitable for
the retailer. De Contenson says: “On the one hand, retailers are looking for a good selection of benefits to offer customers, but on the other they want a good level of sales commission from the insurer.
SPAIN tops the destination
rankings for international visitor nights, France the rankings for domestic nights (Figure 57).
“The main part of our negotiation as the
insurance provider is to find the ideal balance between these two drivers. Our goal is to
FIGURE 58:
TOTAL TOURISM NIGHTS: 2016
% 100
20 40 60 80
0
% of total nights in hotels/ holiday accommodation
Spain France Italy UK
Germany Austria
Netherlands Greece Turkey Croatia Portugal
Source: Eurostat
TOURISM NIGHTS BY INTERNATIONAL VISITORS
Travel Weekly Europe Report 2018 | 41
295m 124m 199m 276m*
80m 80m
72m 44m 66m 160m 281m 203m 190m 309m 67m 47m 83m
455m
405m 403m
465m* 389m 118m
106m 102m
113m 65% 31% 50% 59% 21% 37% 58% 79% 93% 67% 71%
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