JETTING OFF… WITH CAUTION

With travel increasingly on the cards, corporate and personal travel insurance presents opportunities for brokers, while it’s a good time for tourism operator clients to review their operations too.

By MARTIN WANLESS

Whether you’re dealing with corporate or personal travel, or working with clients that provide tourism services, there’s a lot to contend with in the travel and tourism industry.

There’s no doubt that international travel has been on the increase over the past 18 months or so. The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that in July 2023, short-term visitor arrivals were more than 625,000 – up by 299,440 when compared to July 2022, while shortterm resident returns stood at 995,580, up by 324,540 the previous year.

And yet, with people still keen to make up for lost time, and the possibility of an outbreak of a new COVID-19 variant seemingly never too far away, travel isn’t as straightforward as perhaps it once was.

Clinton Hall, National Accident and Health Manager at Solution Underwriting says, “Since restrictions were lifted, we have seen an increase in the number of people travelling, and these levels are back, if not higher, to pre-COVID-19.

“However, as we are still in a pandemic, cover remains not only relevant, but vital. Some underwriters have evolved coverage to ensure it’s treated as a standard inclusion.”

And, as people’s appetite for travel grows, there’s an increasing desire to mix business with pleasure – which, from an insurance perspective at least, creates problems.

Personal staff leisure travel (not associated with business travel) is also a challenge for the market, and claims continue to be problematic and disproportionate in this area,” confirms Anita Lane, Director at Solution Underwriting.

“It would be helpful for brokers to clarify with clients the difference between business or business associated with leisure to standalone private leisure travel, ultimately ensuring all trips are declared correctly.”

PERSONAL TRAVEL –AN OPPORTUNITY FOR BROKERS?

The travel bug is certainly impacting the personal travel insurance sector – and it’s an area of opportunity for brokers.

Brokers currently have less than 10 per cent market share of the leisure travel insurance market, according to an IbisWorld report from October 2022, despite being in an excellent position to help their clients find a suitable policy for their travels and provide guidance around cover.

“While travellers are more aware of the need for travel insurance post-COVID-19, research has shown that 68 per cent of Australians incorrectly believe that the government would aid in the event of a medical emergency overseas,” says Liz Telford, Chief Commercial Officer from PassportCard.

DO NOT TRAVEL!

Knowing where your clients are travelling to – and why –is essential. At the time of writing (September 2023), there are 20 countries listed as ‘Do not travel’ on the government’s Smartraveller website, while 10 more are listed as ‘Reconsider your need to travel’, and more than 80 have ‘Exercise a high degree of caution’ advice.

Emily Dickens and Rachel Anderson, Accident and Health Underwriters at Solution Underwriting say, “Brokers should question where their client is travelling to and the need to be travelling to that country. Is there a different way to do their role rather than travel to a ‘Do not travel’ area?

For example, white-collar employees could fulfil their role virtually.

“The client may have inadequate cover under some of the applicable sections of a Corporate Travel Policy when travelling to a ‘Do not travel’ area.”

Care Services

Aged Care, Disability Care, Child Care, Home Care service providers, Retirement Living

Community Services

Community groups, Not for Profits, Community and Sporting Clubs, Social Services, Vocational Care, Youth Organisations

Faith Services

Religious organisations of all denominations, Temples, Cathedrals, Mosques, Synagogues and Churches

Education & Learning Services

Independent Schools, Adult Education institutions, Early Learning centres

Arts, Cultures & Heritage

Museums, Theatres, Heritage, National Buildings, National Trust buildings, historic sites

Commercial Property Owners

Commercial property investors and owners of retail stores, offices, commercial mixed tenancies

FEATURE / Travel and Tourism

“This highlights the opportunity for brokers to educate their clients about the importance of having travel insurance.

“This is the first time in the past three years that we’ve been able to travel overseas relatively free of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Most destinations have dropped the requirement for tourists to show evidence of COVID-19 vaccination to gain entry, and with health officials around the world downgrading the danger of COVID-19, it’s unlikely there’ll be another global travel ban.

“However, there is a risk that someone might get COVID-19, so it’s important to