there is an absolute need to travel. The [only] element we would not cover in that situation is cancellation.”


She adds: “These days, clients are


potentially more at risk going somewhere that has previously been viewed as low-risk. “Often it is not the territories that are


perceived as risky that concern us as much as the lower-risk countries, because if you know there is a risk you take the necessary precautions. “Historically, you would not think twice about going to Paris, for example. But today travellers need to be much more aware of what is going on around them, even in areas that would be considered low-risk.” In contrast to leisure travel insurance


across Europe, the core business travel product “is very similar” across markets, says Southwell. “There don’t tend to be many differences. We have just launched a new business travel product spanning markets in the Nordics, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, and we are working to translate the cover for France and Italy. “It goes under different names in different


markets, but the cover is the same. “It is based on our UK business travel


product, which provides the widest cover with the highest limits and most-comprehensive suite of services.”


Business and leisure insurance Amid all the talk about the blurring of business and leisure travel into ‘bleisure’, Southwell notes: “There is still an element of separation between business and leisure travel insurance. Providing leisure travel insurance within the business travel product is predominantly a requirement of the Nordics market. For the rest of Europe, it is not something we offer. “We used to offer it 10-15 years ago, but


now clients generally want to keep business travel and leisure travel cover separate as it changes their claims profile and they don’t want that.” Once travellers have AIG Travel cover, how


they contact the company is up to them. Southwell says: “Insured travellers can access


ITALY has the most hotel bedrooms of any country in Europe and 16% of the EU hotel (Figure 65), yet 14% of tourism nights in the EU, giving it one of the lowest occupancy rates among leading destinations (Figure 66).


I am always surprised by how many clients still prefer to have a traditional card with their policy number and our helpline number on it


us by phone, text, email or an emergency call button on our mobile app.” She says: “In an emergency, the phone is still the most popular way for clients to contact us. There is a real immediacy there – when something goes wrong, people want to speak to someone who can start helping them straight away.” Southwell adds: “I am always surprised


by how many clients still prefer to have a traditional card with their policy number and our emergency assistance helpline number on it. We often work with clients to save this information on their intranet sites, but in the end a printed card is still the best option for a lot of people.” She says: “The core issue when something


goes wrong is that the traveller wants to speak to someone as quickly as possible who speaks their language. Ultimately, you are buying insurance so you can access help that is delivered as quickly as possible. “We have eight, 24-hour assistance


centres around the world with staff who speak multiple languages, who support our travellers in their own language. “When we build a proposition for clients,


we base their programme around an assistance centre, so if a client is Dutch but has travellers who are Chinese, we include assistance in multiple Chinese dialects. “At the centre of everything is how we support our clients.”


HOTEL BEDROOMS BY DESTINATION: 2017 Number of rooms (thousands)


FIGURE 65: 656 1,087 874


924 963


410 291 426 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 Rooms (thousands)


France Italy UK


Spain


Germany Greece Austria Turkey


14%


EU hotel bedrooms 10%


6% 4%


EU HOTEL BEDROOMS


6.6m 14% 13% Source: Eurostat 16%


�


Travel Weekly Europe Report 2018 | 45


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