ITIJ Issue 218 March 2019

NEWS ANALYSIS:

p.10

ITIC REVIEW:

Adapt or perish

Santo Domingo

Climate change is here – how are travel insurers responding?

A full run-down of the action at the recent ITIC Americas conference

ESSENTIAL READING FOR TRAVEL & HEALTH INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS

Travel insurance popular in China Chinese travellers are purchasing travel insurance at higher rates than ever before, according to a new report from China-based online travel agency Ctrip International

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MARCH 2019 • ISSUE 218

Passport woes for Brits The study found that a staggering 1.4 million travellers from the UK have managed to forget crucial documentation like passports before they leave for the airport – and 64 per cent of Brits admitted that they would be more likely to check the weather in their holiday destination

Making sure you have all of your travel documents in place, and with you when you leave the house, is as important as having good quality travel insurance in place

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

ABI warns against no-deal Brexit The ABI has hardly been reticient when it comes to warning of the dangers of a potential no-deal scenario, but this intervention at its annual dinner was the organisation’s harshest warning yet, with Evans describing a no-deal Brexit as ‘an unforgivable act of economic and social self-harm that the UK would live to regret’. He called upon the UK Government to do everything in its power to avoid

SERVICE DIRECTORY

British holidaymakers seem to be having difficulty remembering their essential travel documents, according to new research from Sainsbury’s Bank Travel Insurance

The number of Chinese holidaymakers buying travel cover for their outbound trips grew by 20 per cent in 2018 compared with the year before, a trend largely driven by an increasing number of seniors heading off on trips, a wider variety of exotic locations on offer for holidays, and ever-more expensive gadgets needing to be packed – and therefore protected.

Ctrip also found that when it came to travel insurance payouts for Chinese travellers in 2018, 46 per cent were for compensation for changes to travel schedules, 35 per cent were for travel delays and 15 per cent were to cover the cost of medical care.

In terms of local destinations, Guangzhou (Guangdong province), Xiamen (Fujian province) and the Hainan province in China were worst for flight delays, while for overseas destinations, Indonesia, the Maldives and the Philippines were the worst.

“Tropical islands usually face frequent flight delays, as they are easily impacted by typhoons and rainstorms, and some chartered flights on islands often change schedules,” explained Huang Qing, Ctrip’s Director of travel insurance business. “Also, flying from China to some further overseas destinations, such as the US, often requires transferring flights. Schedule changes

In a major speech, Huw Evans, DirectorGeneral of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), warned that a no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic

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this outcome, even delaying if necessary: “As a last resort, if the only alternative to no deal is some form of short delay to Brexit, then delay we should.”

One major issue that Evans pointed to is the fact that in any hypothetical future arrangement in which the UK was forced to comply with rules that it had no say in, these rules could be ‘weaponised by those in the EU that want to damage the UK’.

This could potentially result in, for example, UK insurers having to hold a great deal more capital than they actually need. As well as damaging competitiveness, Evans warned, this would reduce investment in the UK economy and result

in people getting less from their pensions.

“As an industry,” said Evans, “we have done everything possible to prepare for no deal, including transferring an estimated 29 million insurance contracts and the establishment of nearly 40 EU subsidiaries and branches to minimise disruption to customers. But we still believe very strongly that a conscious descision to opt for no deal would be an act of economic recklessness our great country would live to regret.”

One ongoing bugbear of the Brexit confusion is

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

in the week leading up to their departure than they would be to check their passports.

Compounding the image of Brits as a particularly hapless travelling demographic, Sainsbury’s also found that 2.7 million people have managed to miss their flights at the beginning of their holiday, and 2.3 million go away without taking out travel insurance.

“Holidays should mean a break from the stress of everyday life,” said Karen Hogg, Head of Insurance at Sainsbury’s Bank. “Making sure you have all of your travel documents in place, and with you when you leave the house, is as important as having good quality travel insurance in place. It’s worth noting

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Editorial comment @ITIJonline Stefan Mohamed - Deputy Editor @itijonline

Editor-in-Chief:

Ian Cameron ian@itij.com

Editor:

Sarah Watson sarah@itij.com

What’s that coming over the hill? Is it a no-deal Brexit?

Maybe! Or maybe not! The really exciting thing about Brexit, for those readers not fully tuned into the UK’s most popular (and least well-written) national soap opera, is that there is no real way of telling where it’s going.

The UK may crash out of the European Union with no deal, resulting in chaos, industries destroyed, food shortages, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria … or it may not. It may in fact be OK. Maybe.

Either way, the ABI has a few strong words on the subject (see our front page, if for some bizarre reason you have skipped straight past that page to this page – I applaud your maverick reading style, don’t let anyone shame you for ploughing your own furrow). Though the public may draw some comfort from the fact that while the EHIC may soon go the way of the dodo, travel insurance policies will be there to catch them when they fall (providing, that is, that they

bother to buy a policy in the first place – more on that age-old story within).

But enough about Brexit – contrary to popular opinion in the UK, there is a wider world out there with more stuff going on. We recently held our ITIC Americas conference in beautiful Santo Domingo, another triumphant event, a full rundown of which you can read on page 28. This issue also features some juicy industry voice pieces, with Cyber|Decider’s Neil Hare-Brown opining on the importance of standardised terms in cyber insurance policy wording, and Jonathan Barrett of Dataminr exploring how the aviation industry can improve its crisis management.

All that, plus the usual plethora of cutting-edge news and analysis. We hope you enjoy this issue – now I’m off to stockpile some tinned goods.

Or maybe I’m not.

Who knows!

Deputy Editor:

Stefan Mohamed stefan@itij.com

Assistant Editors:

Mandy Langfield Lauren Haigh

Writer & Copy-Editor:

Robyn Bainbridge

Advertising sales:

James Miller Kathryn Zerboni Marlon Stanley sales@itij.com

Marketing:

Isabel Sturgess Kate Knowles

Finance:

CONTENTS HIGHLIGHTS

Elspeth Reid Alex Rogers Kirstin Reid

News

p4 Industry Voice

Brits claim they can’t find cover Are they right?

Cutting through the jargon

p16

Design team:

Tommy Baker William McClelland

Webmaster:

Insurers need to standardise cyber terminology

Tom Reed

Director of events:

Denise Clements denise@itic.co

Travel Matters

WTTC outlines travel ‘mega trends’

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+44 (0)117 922 6600 editorial desk: extension 3 advertising desk: extension 1 subscriptions desk: extension 247 Telephone:

New report offers wide-ranging predictions

subscriptions@voyageur.co.uk accounts desk: email: web:

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Company Brief

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AXA launches new IaaS platform Adapting to the digital age

Insurance Matters

Insurtech competition winners announced

Chisel AI comes top in Zurich’s inaugural contest

www.itij.com/subscribe

p15 Industry Voice

The noise above the drone: detecting the unexpected

p20

Crisis management for the aviation industry

Published on behalf of: Voyageur Publishing & Events Ltd. The information contained in this publication has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. Neither the publisher nor Voyageur Publishing & Events Ltd can accept any responsibility for any error or misinterpretation. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or other damage caused by reliance on the information contained in this publication, or in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation or cessation of the trade of any company, individual or firm mentioned is hereby excluded. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

Printed by Pensord Press, South Wales, United Kingdom

Health Matters

Healix predicts 2019 health challenges

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Copyright © Voyageur Publishing & Events Ltd 2019. Materials in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL & HEALTH INSURANCE JOURNAL

ISSN 2055-1215

Watch out for Ebola and Zika!

PEFC/16-33-447

2

NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Brits claim they can’t find cover Research conducted by medical travel insurance comparison website Medical Travel Compared has revealed that large numbers of British travellers are foregoing travel insurance due to steep pricing and perceived insufficient cover options The study surveyed 1,000 British citizens with pre-existing medical conditions, including those with high blood pressure, asthma, Type 2 diabetes, depression and anxiety; it uncovered that 32 per cent of people claimed to have found it difficult to obtain travel insurance and 34 per cent found the price too expensive after declaring their medical conditions. Indeed, the study also stated that 18 per cent of British travellers with pre-existing medical conditions felt that they had been ‘mis-sold or misled’ when purchasing travel insurance.

As a result of this, 21 per cent of people declared that they did not travel at all due to difficulties obtaining travel insurance and 24 per cent admitted that they would occasionally forego buying travel insurance at all when holidaying outside of the UK. Tommy Lloyd, Managing Director of Medical Travel Compared, warned that ‘failing to disclose key medical conditions, or skipping travel insurance entirely, could result in a hefty bill in medical expenses should something happen before or during a holiday’. Should a trip need to be cancelled before departing, travellers who do not invest in travel insurance are taking a huge financial gamble.

Lloyd continued: “One in three of the UK population have a pre-existing medical condition, meaning a significant

number of travellers need be aware of the importance of choosing a travel insurance policy that fully protects them from the moment they book a trip.”

Contrary to perceptions, there are a plethora of options for travellers with pre-existing conditions looking for coverage, and many initiatives in place to signpost these customers towards them. However, the fact that so many customers are reporting the kinds of experiences uncovered in Medical Travel Compared’s research shows that the travel insurance industry’s message is still not being communicated as effectively as would be desirable – which should be a cause for concern.

treatment they would receive upon visiting their National Health Service (NHS) doctor or hospital, as very few countries within the European Union pay the full cost of medical care as is expected from the NHS. Should a holidaymaker be unlucky enough to need mountain rescue or medical repatriation, they should be aware that this is not covered by the EHIC. Furthermore, according to industry figures, an air ambulance flight from Europe to the UK is approximately £12,000. Should a consumer suffer an accident on the slopes, they’d do well to have invested in some travel insurance with a good level of medical expenses cover and appropriate winter sports protection.

EHIC is no substitute for travel insurance In light of the hordes of skiers and snowboarders heading to the slopes this winter, comparison website GoCompare has conducted research with some worrying findings: namely, that many UK citizens do not fully understand what benefits a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) can and cannot provide; should they find themselves seriously ill or injured, they may be left with hefty medical costs as a result.

GoCompare revealed that 59 per cent of UK consumers that have been abroad in the last five years believe that an EHIC entitles them to free emergency medical care anywhere in Europe. Indeed, four per cent of UK consumers believe that it entitles them to emergency medical treatment anywhere in the world.

With such troubling figures, GoCompare stresses that patients seeking care outside of the UK should not expect the same

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ABI warns against no-deal Brexit

uncertainty surrounding the fate of the EHIC, and the effect that a no-deal scenario could potentially have on travel insurers’ policy wording in this respect. ITIJ reached out to the ABI for comment, and while a spokesperson said that ‘like most things with Brexit, the position is not clear cut’, the organisation was able to offer a measure of clarification: “For many travel policies in the market, the loss of the EHIC is unlikely to lead to a meaningful change to terms and conditions; any reference to the EHIC would simply be irrelevant and customers would still be able to make medical claims. However, for those policies where an EHIC must be in place and used, changes are likely. Pragmatically, insurers would look to make reasonable changes to policy wordings where necessary to avoid customer confusion. In either case, this does not change what policies will cover.”

ITIJ would certainly hope that all travel insurers will take a pragmatic and reasonable approach, and that the UK Government will find a constructive route forward. However, with the Brexit situation still so changeable and negotiations likely to continue down to the wire, this time next month everything could potentially look very, very different.

NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Passport woes for Brits

Travel insurance popular in China

that insurers are unlikely to cover you if you’ve left your passport at home.

With recent issues such as flight disruption at airports and adverse weather conditions in parts of Europe, you may want to ensure that your travel insurance policy provides disruption cover, particularly if you have connecting flights.”

The research also found that students are the demographic most likely to miss flights and leave travel documentation behind, while families tend to make it to their holiday destination with minimal stress (relatively speaking) but are more likely to discover that they have left items such as medicine or jewellery at home.

on connecting flights can also result in delays. [Unfortunately] many carriers don’t compensate for flight delays or cancellations caused by objective factors like bad weather. Some travellers miss their transfer flights and have to buy new tickets or book hotels by themselves. [Luckily] travel insurance can offer such compensation.”

The highest proportion of outbound Chinese travellers who took out travel insurance, according to Ctrip, were found to be heading to Europe, at least partly because applying for a Schengen Visa mandates travel cover as a prerequisite.

This was followed by Sri Lanka, New

Zealand and Indonesia. Locally, areas with high altitudes and other environmental challenges such as Qinghai pronvicne and Shanxi province saw the highest proportion of travellers covered by insurance.

Editorial Blog MEDFLIGHT And so the UK and its Brexit fiasco trundles on towards who knows what.

Will the UK leave this month with a deal?

Will it stay? Will it crash out with no deal?

One thing’s for sure, those who have been writing policies with any clause relating to use of the EHIC as part of their terms and conditions for emergency medical treatment will be looking at the prospect of a no-deal scenario, and with it the end of any reciprocal healthcare arrangement, with horror.

Let’s be clear – a lack of reciprocal healthcare arrangements will not only bring the viability of the pricing of some UK policies into question, but those already written with the need to use the EHIC as the first resort may find themselves having to foot bills for treatment, whether private or public, that they had previously not budgeted for.

And I doubt there’ll be much sympathy for those insurers affected in this way.

Further bad news for the UK comes from the article on page one – the worryingly high numbers of Brits (64 per cent) who are more likely to check the weather (a British obsession) at their destination, rather than their passports. Compound that with the other statistics, like the 2.7 million who miss flights each year and the 2.3 million that forget (or don’t bother with) travel insurance, and you really begin to wonder. If you think there are issues now, just wait until Brexit brings a few more borders to cross close to home. Oh what fun we’re going to have!

And last but not least, the report by Sainsburys gives us the earth shattering news that STUDENTS are the most likely to miss their flights. What a shock!

However, in defence of students (and my own offspring), most are awake by the crack of mid-afternoon, and what with the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use, it’s a bit unfair to expect them to remember to catch a flight in that brief window of cognisance each day …

Oh well.

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NEWS

Top four US travel destinations revealed

The four most popular international destinations for US travellers who purchased travel insurance over the past year have been released by USbased travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth, with Africa coming top.

Egypt, Africa was deemed the most popular destination for US travellers last year, with a year over year increase of 145.87 per cent. Morocco, Africa was the second most popular destination, with an increase of 72.81 per cent; Tanzania, Africa and Colombia, South America, came in third and fourth respectively, with increases of 61.45 per cent and 59.33 per cent.

In addition to these figures, the average

Winter claims data from Allianz Allianz Travel Insurance has warned that holidaymakers heading off on winter trips need to make sure that they are prepared for potentially hazardous weather conditions; the company has released some of its claims data for the 2018/2019 winter storm season as it stands, to illustrate the potential for peril.

Already, the season has seen storms Jayden, Harper, Avery, Bruce and Carter sweep in and strike, and Allianz has received over 3,200 claims from customers whose travel plans have been disrupted as a result. As of 7 February, the company had received 345 claims related to Winter Storm Jayden, 2,046 related to Harper, 53 related to Carter, 272 related to Bruce and 501 related to Avery.

Allianz has advised customers to refer to their policy documentation if they have questions, and to contact the 24/7 customer service

cost of trips to each of the top destinations rose, and it emerged that travellers visiting Tanzania spent an average of US$11,216.74, up by 7.81 per cent compared to the year prior. Colombia visitors’ spending increased by 8.86 per cent, splurging an average $1,531.94 on their trips.

All four destinations saw a notable increase in tourism from every generation: millennial travel was perceived to be the highest in Morocco and Colombia; Egypt and Tanzania received the most visits from Generation X; and Egypt was the most popular destination amongst Baby Boomer and Silent Generation travellers, the latter of which increased by a whopping 468 per cent.

department if they have problems.

“Winter travel can be unpredictable and stressful – travel insurance can provide peace of mind for those worried about weather impacting their trips,” said Daniel Durazo, Director of Marketing and Communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “The right policy can reimburse you for travel delays or cancellations and assist in getting you to your destination.

Allianz’s SmartBenefits can even provide proactive claims payments within minutes after a qualifying flight delay.”

Allianz also reminds its customers that once a storm has been named, travel insurance cannot be bought to cover it; travellers can only rely on coverage they have already taken out, and even then, there may be caveats. As ever, consumers are advised to purchase coverage as soon as their trip is booked.

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You gotta have Faith Digital insurer FWD Singapore has created a virtual personal assistant for its travel insurance customers.

Called Faith, the chatbot is available 24/7, and has been designed to guide policyholders through the entire process in the event that they should need to claim on their travel insurance.

The bot has been developed and launched in collaboration with Active.Ai, a Singaporebased fintech startup that provides a proprietary AI enterprise platform through which it helps financial institutions to analyse, process and make sense of reams of unstructured customer data.

As well as offering a guiding hand throughout the claims process, Faith can also answer customers’ questions about the life and general insurance products offered

by FWD. And rather than relying on call centre working hours or sending emails, queries can be responded to instantly.

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“When customers do need to make a claim on their insurance plans, they want the process to be seamless, quick and efficient,” said Abishek Bhatia, CEO of FWD Singapore. “With Faith, this is exactly what they will experience, with the bonus that they can talk to her at any time of the day, from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a mobile device and a working internet connection.”

Part of the impetus behind Faith’s development was the perceived frustration that Singaporean travel insurance customers had with the complexity of the claims process. FWD has a history of pursuing innovation in order to solve these sorts of customer issues, from the introduction of an electronic claims payment system to a mobile app that enables their policyholders to access to cashless medical treatment should they fall ill or suffer injury while travelling.

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NEWS

Canadian spring breakers advised to get cover

Canada’s federal Government recently issued an advisory to Canadians planning on taking a spring break trip; one of the many tips strongly suggests that they should purchase travel insurance.

The advisory emphasises that irrespective of health status, travel insurance is an essential purchase for anybody heading off on holiday.

Gratifyingly, it also says that Canadians should buy ‘the best travel insurance they can afford’, rather than merely settling for a cheap policy that may not actually cover them for the kinds of mishaps they could theoretically get into.

The advisory, as well as hammering home the importance of good quality travel cover, also suggests that spring breakers: check all travel advice and advisories relating to their destination before leaving; register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service so that they can be updated on any emergencies that may happen abroad or at home; be

According to the results of the latest annual cruise survey by travel insurance comparison engine InsureMyTrip, falling ill or becoming injured is the top worry for cruise passengers in the US. Forty-two per cent of respondents said they were concerned about this.

The poll, which took in results from approximately 1,440 Americans who regularly take cruise trips, found that the second highest worry on cruisers’ list was bad weather (37.3 per cent cited this as their biggest concern), while the third most common concern was missing the departure of their cruise (20.5 per cent). Thirty-one per cent of respondents, meanwhile, said that they had at some point suffered from a stomach illness

aware of where they are, stay with friends as much as possible and be on the lookout for unscrupulous characters; consume alcohol responsibly (and be aware that some destinations will take a very dim view of excessive drunkenness); and remember that while some holiday spots may be relaxed about the consumption of recreational substances, mostly the consumption, import and export of these substances is banned and will incur heavy penalties. Marijuana, for example, while legal in Canada, is very much illegal in many other countries.

“The Government of Canada takes the safety and security of all Canadians abroad very seriously,” said Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Parliamentary Secretary to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“We encourage spring break travellers heading to international destinations to visit Travel.gc.ca before they leave.”

Animals do the funniest things Southern Cross Pet Insurance in New Zealand has released some of its weirder claims data for 2018 – specifically, the oddest claims from customers making use of pet insurance.

New Zealand, according to Southern Cross has the second highest level of pet ownership in the world, though perhaps worryingly pet insurance rates are not proportionally higher. However, many owners do opt to protect their furry friends, and some of the claims made in 2018 certainly raised eyebrows in our offices.

For example,

Cruise passengers fear getting sick

one unlucky German Shepherd required two surgeries and post-operative care after it accidentally trapped itself in a room with two cats and impaled its leg on a metal shoe rack while frantically trying to escape.

This claim totalled NZ$8,437. A Labrador Retriever, meanwhile, required surgery after eating a blanket, costing $6,000, while a Miniature Poodle ate an entire chicken skewer – which was removed whole, costing $3,197 – and a French bulldog required multiple incisions after eating an entire role of dental floss, which subsequently unravelled in its intestines. This procedure cost $2,873.

“Most of the claims we process each year are for fairly typical illnesses and routine checks, but we also receive some that surprise us, particularly the range of ways pets find to testing the limits of their digestive system,” said Anthony McPhail, General Manager of Southern Cross Pet Insurance. “When New Zealanders have an accident or need medical treatment we’re fortunate that our public health system covers most of the costs, but our furry friends don’t have the same luxury.”

or seasickness while on a cruise.

All of the travellers polled had either researched or purchased travel insurance within the last two years, and 24 per cent had at some point needed to file a travel insurance claim for an issue that occurred while cruising. Medical care required while cruising was the most common reason, followed by trip cancellation due to a medical issue, delay or cancellation caused by bad weather, missed flights leading to the delay or cancellation of a cruise, and lost or stolen items during the trip.

In terms of favoured destinations, 25 per cent of respondents said that the Caribbean would be their preferred cruising spot, followed by Alaska (18 per cent) and Italy (seven per cent).

IATI Seguros clicks onto new market A specialist Spanish travel insurer has clicked on to one of its key target markets – by sponsoring the first travel blogger prizes in Spain.

David Ing reports Held in Madrid in January to coincide with the city’s Fitur travel fair, the Premios IATI Awards are a follow up to the promotional work insurer IATI Seguros has already carried out in backing the work of what it hails as the country’s ‘best travel bloggers and influencers’.

Some entries for the competition have already been posted on the company’s own website ahead of the event, along with links to the main social media platforms where they can be viewed.

IATI’s roots date back to way before the internet or even much of modern transport was dreamed of. It has passed through four generations of the same family since it was founded in 1885, ‘when journeys were made solely by ship’.

“We like to think of ourselves as a company with soul, even though we now sell much of our insurance through the internet,” said CEO Alfonso Calzado Desvalls.

That slogan led to the company supporting the launch of Spain’s inaugural Travel Blogger Forum, an event which celebrated its second annual gathering at the southern town of Puerto de Santa Maria in October 2018.

According to IATI, the aim is to help ‘promote responsible tourism and the protection of the environment’. But it also recognises the gathering as a good way to reach out to young tech-savvy travellers as they

8

make preparations for their journeys.

Sponsorship of the forum proved a natural lead into hosting the Premios IATI and its goal of ‘recognising excellence in the digital communication of travel’.

Prize money at the inaugural ceremony totaled €9,000, with the top €3,000 prize for the best professional blog being picked by a five-person jury that included travel journalists, internet experts and Calzado Desvalls.

A further four winners took home €1,500 each for categories that covered the best ‘revelation’ blog, the best channels on Youtube and Instagram, and a special prize selected to exemplify the ‘best in traveller values’.

MARM ASSISTANCE

NEWS

ADVERTORIAL

A hot Season for Turkey.

Thanks to a positively trending political climate between Turkey and the European Union, travellers from Germany and the U.K. have already started to book their holidays in the Turkish Riviera for this summer season in great numbers. Last year, China’s declaration of 2018 as “Turkey Tourism Year” increased the number of Chinese tourists by 46 percent and the expectation for this year is set to be the same. Surely, Russia's declaration of 2019 as tourism year to boost the number of Russian visitors to Turkey and Turkish visitors to Russia will also have its impact. Indeed, with increased flights between Russia and Turkey, 2019 looks set to be another record

Increase in Early Bookings.

Initial figures suggest that a record number of tourists from Germany, China and the U.K. will visit Turkey in 2019.

The country welcomed 39.5 million foreign visitors last year, a 21.84 percent increase year-on-year, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry, while the national statistical body revealed that the country’s tourism income surged 12.3 percent to $30 billion.

year for tourism between the two countries (in 2018, approximately 6 million Russians took their vacation in Turkey). Elsewhere, the

the 23rd Eastern Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair

booking system of Turkish Airlines is a huge advantage. A service

repeated movements of “yellow/red vests” in France have had a real

(EMITT), one of the four biggest tourism fairs in the world that was

combination of assistance and travel solutions with a medical-

impact on international arrivals. According to Planet (a company

kicked off in February at the TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center, our

focused background is an unparalleled feature in our industry.”

specializing in tax relief), France has become the European country

Manager of Marketing and Communications Buhara Demir, who was

During a speech at EMITT, the Culture and Tourism Minister of

showing the largest decreases in terms of international tourist

present on behalf of Marm Travel and Marm Assistance, said: “We

Turkey announced the government has revised the 2023 targets

activity, compared to the U.K., Italy, Spain and Germany. "Families,

concur with the data and confirm that the primary visiting purpose

to 70 million tourists and $70 billion in income. With that goal,

travellers, and tourists will not risk getting stuck in the middle of

of foreigners to Turkey was cultural activities, travel, sports and

the Ministry launched advertising campaigns in magazines,

these political unrests. They already have chosen other destinations

entertainment, at 60.5 percent, and their top accommodation choice

television programs and digital platforms in the U.K., Germany,

like Turkey and Greece for their vacations". (The French outlook

was hotels/motels, with over 36 million overnights. As a company

the Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and the Gulf countries. With this

analyzed by Planet for the first quarter of 2019 forecasts a 2.5%

with its roots between Europe and Asia, Marm Assistance has much

short summary, we’d like to address insurance companies and our

decrease in the number of tourist arrivals). Due to these facts, top

to offer to companies, expats and travellers who would love to enjoy

partners: “Get ready for a hot season in Turkey, and check in with

world-renowned tour operators that for three years had paid no

the breathtaking natural beauty, unique historical and archaeological

Marm Assistance not only when assistance is needed, but prior, to

advance to Turkish hotels are now competing to find rooms. “Heavy

sites and tradition of hospitality that Turkey offers. Becoming an

be prepared upfront and perhaps even prevent major issues.” Stay

demands will extend the season,” tourism professionals added. At

IATA accredited agent (in Jan 2019) and connecting directly into the

tuned for further developments. We will certainty keep you posted.

Middle East’s Medical Tourism and Travel Industry

Moreover, in response to the increased assistance necessities and

With over 39 confirmed country pavilions, Arab Health Conference

emirate, the city is poised for incredible growth in the tourism and

2019 provided an important platform for the Middle East’s healthcare

hospitality sectors, offering more opportunities to attract all kinds

industry to build relationships with international stakeholders

of travellers who will require assistance for both travel and medical.

and facilitate the exploration of new business opportunities in

Recent reports suggest that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) health

the global healthcare field. Our Regional Manager Jamil Juma

sector will grow by 60% between 2016 and 2021, which will increase

and Chairman of the Board Berna Okten where there on site,

and be worth over AED 103 billion by 2021. Furthermore, the UAE is

networking and checking the latest updates in the industry. Okten

the world’s fastest growing medical tourism hub. The Dubai Health

believes the opening of our office in Iran nearly four years ago not

Authority (DHA) in 2017 reported medical tourism in Dubai generated

only showcases the region’s thriving assistance industry but also

more than AED 1.4 billion in 2016, as well as receiving 326,649

highlights the company’s ongoing expansion and growing customer

medical tourists (the report for 2018 will be released in August 2019).

base in the Middle East. “Tapping into the assistance and travel

Additionally, over the past decade, the Middle East has developed

markets in the Middle East with a local office was prompted by our

into a global hub for tourism and leisure. Visitors are attracted to the

valued business relationships in the region and the growing demand

region’s retail offerings, hotels, beaches, and unique experiences

for our solutions,” she said. “Our business may be remote support,

such as a trip to the top of Burj Khalifa, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

market-leading solutions provider, we are proud to help facilitate

but our mission is to add value to our customers. The addition of a

in the UAE, Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar and the old-fashioned

the continued growth of the assistance industry and support its

physical office, especially in a country where support is absolutely

souks in Oman. However, the winds of change will require further

positive economic impact. We’re excited to expand our regional

essential, along with a local team, allows us to focus more on our

transformation within the travel, medical and tourism industries in the

presence and continue to deliver world-class assistance solutions

customers’ needs and build closer relationships with local partners.”

region. That is why we believe a local presence is essential. “As a

to elevate customer satisfaction across the region,” said Okten.

travel volume in the MENA region, we directed our strategic plan expanding into UAE, Dubai. Dubai is well established as one of the top destinations in the region for the medical tourism and travel industry and ranks second in the world for the cities with the most five-star hotels. And with the upcoming World Expo 2020 taking place in the

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NEWS ANALYSIS

A DA P T OR PERISH Climate change is having far-reaching effects around the planet, giving travellers cause for concern about many of the destinations they visit and travel insurers lots to think about when it comes to adapting their risk appetite. Robin Gauldie assesses the state of play

I

n disaster movies, climate change cataclysm always comes implausibly quickly. Roland Emmerich's blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow (2004) depicts a vast tsunami engulfing the skyscrapers of New York followed by, for good measure, a global blizzard that plunges whole continents into a new Ice Age overnight.

In reality, climate chaos is a more gradual process. But only the most stubborn denialists (such as US President Donald Trump) still argue that it is not a reality. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says credible science now indicates that it is coming sooner rather than later.

Charting change “Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later, before it is too late,” warned United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the UN COP24 Climate Summit in Katowice, Poland, in December. At the same event, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva announced that half of its US$100 billion climate change budget for 20212025 will be spent on projects aimed at reducing the impact of floods, storms and drought – a significant increase on the five per cent of global funding spent on such action in previous years. Also speaking at the Summit, Professor Patrick Verkooijen, Chief Executive of the Netherlands-based Global Centre on Adaptation, described climate extremes as 'the new normal'.

According to the latest US National Climate Assessment, prepared by 13 federal agencies and released in November 2018, climate change impacts are intensifying across the US. “This report shows it [climate

change] is already happening where we live, not on far off islands or at the poles,” said one of the report's authors, quoted in British newspaper The Guardian.

In the UK, five of the six wettest years on record have happened since 2000, according to the Association of British Insurers. Worldwide, 2014 to 2017 were the four hottest years ever recorded.

Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later before it is too late So we are no longer thinking in terms of centuries, or even decades: our warming globe is already experiencing increasingly severe climate-related events, such as cyclones and hurricanes. These, and other events such as heatwaves, floods, firestorms, mudslides and avalanches, appear to be not only more frequent, but affecting parts of the world where they were historically less common.

Last year alone, Typhoon Jebi became the worst storm to hit Japan in 25 years, and Hurricane Florence, which struck the US eastern seaboard in September, cost global reinsurer Munich Re around €300 million, according to the company's thirdquarter 2018 report. Munich Re's Chief Financial Officer Jorg Schneider spoke of 'a series of major natural catastrophes still continuing into the fourth quarter' of 2018.

The October 2018 Global Catastrophe Recap from AON highlighted the impact of Hurricane Michael, which left at least 45 people dead in Florida and other southern US states with economic losses of more

than $15 billion and costs to insurers of at least $8 billion. A 'complex severe weather outbreak' killed nearly 30 people in Italy in late October and caused economic losses likely to exceed $3.4 billion.

Wildfires killed up to 100 people in Attica, Greece, in July, within sight of Greece's capital – one of the world's most high-profile tourism destinations – and within a few kilometres of Athens's international airport and the busy ferry port of Rafina. In August, wildfires swept through forested hills just a few minutes' drive from the resorts of the Algarve, Portugal's most popular beach resort region, and the toll from the wildfires that swept the US state of California in November amounted to at least 88 dead. According to the latest US National Climate Assessment, climate change has almost doubled the area affected by wildfires in western US states.

The EU's Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, has been quoted as saying that Europe and the world face 'a new reality'. The EU must be better prepared to respond to 'multiple disasters across the continent', he said,

In the UK, five of the six wettest years on record have happened since 2000 following the Greek and Portuguese wildfires.

But fires are not the only problem.

Climate change is already triggering other potential cataclysms; retreating ice along the coastlines of Greenland, Patagonia, northern Norway and Alaska increases the risk of vast rockslides that, in turn, can cause tsunami-like waves like the 200-metre surge that swept part of the Alaskan coast

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during 2015, when the collapse of part of the Tyndall Glacier tipped 180 million tonnes of rock into the fjord below.

According to researchers at the University of Geneva, avalanches in popular Himalayan trekking regions such as Ladakh have increased in terms of frequency and intensity in recent decades. “From the second half of the twentieth century, there has been an increase in the number of avalanches, both in terms of frequency and intensity.

The frequency has risen from one event per decade to almost one event every year. Avalanches are bigger, travel greater distances, and are triggered earlier in the year,” their report states. “Avalanches are a natural phenomenon and occur repeatedly in mountain areas; nonetheless, rising temperatures are altering their triggering.”1 Adapting to change This is not just an issue for property insurers and the reinsurance sector. Inevitably, it is beginning to have an impact on travel insurers and the worldwide travel industry.

Weather events and natural disasters now surpass terrorism as the top trip cancellation concern for US travellers, according to travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth.

“Major natural disasters, such as hurricanes Florence and Michael and the California wildfires, had more travellers worried about having to cancel their trips unexpectedly.

The number of travellers who bought travel insurance in 2018 specifically for weather or a natural disaster increased by 13 per cent over last year,” Squaremouth stated in its review of the year.

Almost by definition, adventure travel operators take clients to parts of the world

NEWS ANALYSIS

(like the Himalayas or the Arctic) where climate conditions are already extreme and where climate change has perhaps the most obvious impact, and that could affect how adventure outfitters and insurers classify destinations and activities in terms of risk. According to the Adventure Travel and Trade Association (ATTA), climate change-related hazards – ranging from calving and receding glaciers to wildfires, flash floods and increasingly erratic weather – are affecting the day-to-day operations of adventure outfitters, forcing them to reevaluate itineraries and take extra precautions to ensure client safety in destinations such as Alaska, Canada and Patagonia.2 However, mainstream tourism destination regions are also vulnerable and – because of the numbers of clients involved – potentially costly for insurers in terms of curtailment and cancellation compensation. In October 2018 (long after the end of the 'traditional' hurricane season), Hurricane Willa intensified almost overnight into a major storm headed for Mexico's popular Pacific coast, and was officially named as a hurricane on 20 October.

This was 'a stark reminder that late-season hurricanes can still affect travel', said Megan Moncrief, spokesperson for Squaremouth, warning travellers that it is not possible to buy travel insurance cover for a stormaffected destination after the storm has been officially named. In late November, Allianz Travel Insurance reported that unusually early and severe winter storms (dubbed Avery, Bruce and Carter) in the northeast US had led to 400 claims from customers whose travel plans had been disrupted.

Allianz Global Assistance says the numbers underline the need for vacationers to have

future coverage after being deemed to be no longer 'unforeseen',” said one industry source, off the record. “We set cut-off dates for events such as floods or fires, depending on the advice of authorities. We may just be invoking [such caveats] more often, but our book would be protected.”

insurance in place well in advance of such events. “It could become a big issue, especially for trip cancellation, but also for delay and interruption,” said Justin Tyndal, CEO and Co-founder of Seven Corners.

“Any time you have a large number of people travelling to a destination that is

avalanches in popular Himalayan trekking regions such as Ladakh have increased in terms of frequency and intensity in recent decades suddenly, drastically changed, it is key.”

Could that be good news for insurers, making clients more willing to buy their insurance well ahead of travel, or to consider costlier policies that cover them in any event? “It is possible that the uncertainty about these types of issues could encourage more people to buy 'cancel for any reason' [policies],” Tyndal told ITIJ. Such cover typically costs 40-per-cent more than a standard travel policy and is typically restricted to 75 per cent of non-refundable trip expenses but allows insureds to cancel their trip if they feel that it is unsafe to visit their planned destination.

Travel insurers seem to be sanguine about the issue, and generally agree that actions to deal with claims related to extreme weather events and their knock-on effects are already in place in their policies. Insurers typically set cut-off dates for future coverage when an event is no longer deemed to be an ‘unforeseen risk’.

“We have adequate protection in our policies to say [such events] are excluded from

Cancellation cover critical “The travel insurance industry is certainly very well aware of the potential impact that global changes in weather events – more extreme weather happening more frequently – could have on people’s travel plans and travel insurance more generally,” said Malcolm Tarling, Chief Media Relations Officer at the Association of British Insurers.

“Increasing global extreme weather incidents could lead to more travellers looking to cancel travel plans. Travel insurance policies may cover cancellation when government departments such as the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against travel, as opposed to the so-called disinclination to travel, which is not generally covered under cancellation.”

the numbers underline the need for vacationers to have insurance in place well in advance of such events

President Caroline Beteta, who was reported as saying that a 'common perception that the majority of California is burning' had prompted would-be visitors to cancel travel to destinations hundreds of miles from the fires, and even trips planned for some months ahead. As Winter Storm Avery peaked in mid-November, leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled or delayed at airports, including those in New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Blatimore, airlines said they would allow flyers to cancel or rebook their flights if their travel was affected.

As well as the immediate impact of storms, floods or fires, insureds may seek to cancel for fear of illness, meaning even more claims.

During the California fires, parts of the state experienced the worst air quality in the world; such events are a powerful disincentive to travel for insureds prone to respiratory problems such as asthma, empysema, COPD or bronchitis. Floods may also increase the risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera.

The travel insurance sector must brace itself for more payouts due to climate change-related events, and for the increased administrative burden of dealing with such claims. Fortunately, insurers already seem quite well-prepared to deal with an increasingly stormy future. ■

References

According to a survey by Visit California, the state's tourism organisation, 11 per cent of those planning a California vacation had cancelled travel to the state as a result of the devastating autumn wildfires. Many of those trips were to areas unaffected by the fires, according to Visit California's

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1. https://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2018/03/180314092612.htm 2. https://www.adventuretravelnews. com/outfitters-kee-clientssafe-in-a-warming-world

COMPANY BRIEF

AXA launches new IaaS platform AXA Partners has announced the launch of AXA Affiliates, a new insurance-as-a-service (IaaS) platform that will give its digital partners the opportunity to tailor their websites and add travel insurance for their customers.

The launch comes hot on the heels of AXA Singapore’s November 2018 introduction of a similar Affiliate platform; in response to the success of that launch, AXA Partners opted to develop its own platform specifically for websites offering travel-related services.

Initially, AXA Affiliates will offer a number of Shengen travel insurance policies, with plans afoot to extend the coverage and product list over various other territories. It allows affiliates to deliver a seamless insurance purchasing experience via their website, enabling them to differentiate themselves from the competition and add a new revenue scheme.

The three main advantages of the platform are fast on-boarding for affiliates – the aim is for any partner to be able to integrate travel insurance into their offering within a fortnight; easily integrated, tailored digital assets such as widgets, banners, images and so on; and financial reporting, with affiliates able to track sales performance in real time.

“We are proud to be launching AXA Affiliates,” said Erick Morazin, Senior Vice-President of Global Travel at AXA Partners. “This platform enables our business partners to deliver personalised and on-demand insurance products to their customers, in an easier way. AXA Affiliates is fully aligned with AXA’s payer-to-partner strategy, and it will help our commercial partners to enrich their customers’ experience. With AXA

Affiliates, we will also be able to work better with those online partners, who favour speed of execution and enhanced revenues.”

New deal with WeChat AXA Partners has also announced a new initiative to bring end-to-end travel insurance services to users of the WeChat social media platform. The ‘mini program’, AXA Go, is managed by AXA TianPing, AXA’s Chinabased property and casualty company, and is fully integrated into the WeChat Go

ecosystem, opening up a potential customer base of over one billion users. WeChat Go is an open collaboration model designed by the Chinese social media platform to invite global partners to provide travel-related solutions for users, including hospitality, airlines, safety, insurance, city guides and other relevant areas.

AXA Go aims to optimise the customer journey for Chinese tourists, covering as many bases as possible pre-travel (including searching and buying relevant insurance and assistance products for a particular

Collinson and Drum Cussac team up

destination, and centralising all policy information on WeChat), during travel (including providing one-click 24/7 access to all insurance and assistance services via the social media platform, and providing key safety and security information) and after travel (including paper-free end-to-end online claims provision for 98 per cent of submitted claims – with settlement via the WeChat Pay wallet – and folow-up services such as welcome back gifts and automated earnings in the AXA Go membership program).

Assist Card moves into internet sales in Europe Assist Card, part of the Starr Companies group – a global insurance and financial services organisation – has signed an agreement with Spain’s Caser Seguros to design tailor-made travel assistance packages to sell to the European market online.

The company already had a significant presence in Spain, so it was a logical step to expand from there, said Global CEO Alexia Keglevich: “We have been in Spain for 32 years, so we know the market well. Starting to

A new joint strategic venture from global travel assistance provider Collinson and risk and security consultancy Drum Cussac will provide a brand new travel risk management solution for globally mobile employees.

The 24/7 integrated solution has been designed to support the welfare of employees travelling abroad, simultaneously helping organistions to effectively fulfil their duty of care responsibilities towards their staff. The

end-to-end solution provides a single point of contact that will offer support to business travellers at every stage of their journey, from pre-planning to debriefing on their return.

Pre-travel support, real-time intelligence, people tracking, crisis management, emergency evacuation and global medical assistance are all included, with organisations able to customise the services on offer to suit the needs of individual employees.

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sell assistance products was a further step we had to make to close the circle. The objective is to broaden our international presence and be ever nearer to our clients around the world.”

The ecommerce move into Europe is a follow up to Access Card’s initial operations in Latin America and its move into the US market, where it began operations in February 2018.

It claims sales growth of 25 per cent in 2018, to give the company a 13-per-cent market share, up from just three per cent in 2015.

COMPANY BRIEF

New startup targets millennials

Pluto, a travel startup based in London, UK, is offering mobile-focused travel insurance in a bid to challenge the market and reduce the number of millennials travelling without cover. The firm is being supported by global insurance company Zurich, which is providing Pluto with claims management expertise and underwriting assistance.

Pluto aims to provide an insurance quote in just 60 seconds – which increases to three minutes (still impressively rapid) when a consumer builds their own policy. It also allows insureds to manage their policies using Facebook Messenger, which enables them to get instant responses regarding their claim.

Pluto Co-Founder and CEO Alex Rainey provided an insight into the background of the new cover: “Travel insurance is often far too complex, and the result is that people don’t know what they’re buying and therefore don’t buy,” he said. “This means young

people are taking on huge unnecessary risk and is exactly why we started Pluto – to make it easier to understand. Good travel insurance doesn’t have to be expensive either. But you need to make sure you understand what it covers and what it doesn’t. Don’t just compare on price! Customers we’ve already spoken to absolutely love building their own policy and understanding it more; they find it hugely empowering.”

Mark Budd, Head of Innovation at Zurich, agreed that insurance needs to keep pace with a generation that has grown up immersed in technology. “Zurich’s partnership with Pluto is extremely exciting and hugely promising as it’s the passion and genuine commitment to challenging the status quo that makes this offering stand out,” he said. “We look forward to working with Pluto to see how we can develop this solution as our customers’ needs continue to evolve.”

Starr offers travel insurance via chatbot Starr Insurance has announced that it has launched a new chatbot for Facebook Messenger, through which it will sell single-trip and annual travel insurance policies for customers in Hong Kong.

The chatbot makes use of AI, machine learning and natural language processing to offer a streamlined and efficient purchasing process, chatting with customers looking to purchase insurance through mobile phones and social media in order to find the most relevant policy for their needs. A series of questions are asked, and the responses are analysed in order to customise a personalised plan, which is then paid for without a credit card – all of this is done through the chat facility, with no

need to connect to an external site. On completion, the customer is emailed their policy, with the whole process taking no more than a few minutes.

Additionally, the chatbot is programmed to answer simple customer questions.

“Starr is the first insurance company in Hong Kong to use a Facebook Messenger chatbot to provide travel insurance services,” said Agnes Cheung, VicePresident and Head of Accident and Health at Starr Insurance. “Applying AI technology simplifies the travel insurance buying process, which is especially important to our younger customers.

They travel extensively and are never without their mobile devices. Our chatbot is tailored to their mobile lifestyle.”

Generali acquires Trip Mate Generali Global Assistance has announced its acquisition of Trip Mate from Arthur J. Gallagher. The transaction is part of Generali’s plans to expand its travel insurance product and service offering in the US. Trip Mate will still trade under its established brand name, but it will henceforth operate under the umbrella of Generali Global Assistance companies in the US. Customers and partners of TripMate will now have access to Generali’s expertise and global reach, while retaining the customer-centric account management and partnership approach that made it an attractive proposition for acquisition. It

Travel cover for Canadians

will also provide its new parent company with fresh services and technology and help to make processes more efficient; the plan is to introduce a wave of new products throughout the forthcoming year.

New digital identity validation solution SafeCharge, a provider of payment technology services to global businesses, has launched a new solution for seamless digital identity validation. Called Identity Manager, the automated solution streamlines complicated background checks in a rapid and cost-effective manner, in order to provide a smoother service for both customers and clients.

SafeCharge has leveraged more than a decade of experience working in various highly regulated payments markets to create Identity Manager, developing it as a gateway that will be wompatible with an extensive range of worldwide identity validation providers, including eKYC, age verification, PEP and sanction checks. It is fully integrated into SafeCharge’s Native+ Payments Engine

In response to the increasing number of Canadians who are defying predictions of a ‘Trump slump’ and heading off on trips to the US, Zurich Canada has announced the launch of Zurich Travel Insurance, a new specially designed proposition aimed at Candians heading south – or elsewhere overseas.

The proposition, which includes cover for emergency medical and dental care, trip cancellation and/or interruption, baggage loss/damage, and flight and travel accidents, as well as 24/7 travel assistance services provided by World

Travel Protection, will be offered through various distributors such as hotel chains, online travel agents and airlines.

They will integrate the new offering in order to offer an overall enhanced experience for Canadian travellers.

“Canadians’ health insurance does not follow them across the border,” explained John Thain, Vice-President of travel, accident and sickness at Zurich Canada, “so they need travel protection plans with medical coverage they can count on. Our new proposition was designed to help travellers close this coverage gap.”

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and can therefore be implemented as part of a SafeCharge Hosted Payment Page.

The solution is aimed at online businesses for whom identity validation checks are a mandatory regulatory stipulation, or simply a requirement of operation practice.

“The beauty of Identity Manager is that with one single contract and one unified reporting interface, businesses can stay ahead of customer authentication regulation requirements and prevent fraudulent transactions using the relevant local identity validation checks wherever their customers are,” said Yuval Ziv, Chief Commercial Officer at SafeCharge. “SafeCharge runs the smart routing logic between check providers which provides a huge time saving and ensures the smooth operation for our customers.”

INSURANCE MATTERS

Anti-fraud team-up for SAS and IFB Data analytics provider SAS has announced a new partnership with the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) in the UK; the organisations have launched a new fraud prevention platform that will help insurers and other institutions, including legal authorities, to quickly and efficiently share information and consequently clamp down on fraudsters.

SAS developed the platform after the IFB pinpointed a need for an intelligence database of a much larger, industryencompassing scale, which could rapidly take note of fraudulent activities across the broadest possible spectrum.

The IFB warned that the threat posed to the insurance industry by fraudsters is growing at a frightening rate, as those undertaking these activities become more sophisticated and organised. At the same time, increased regulation surrounding data creates many obstacles for insurers. As a result of these various threats converging, insurers need a faster, sharper method of detecting fraud. “There was a clear lack of a joined-up process,” said the IFB, “meaning that information was shared imperfectly, leaving many firms unaware of and vulnerable to known threats.”

The new platform will, hopes the IFB, act as a broker between organisations so that they can view one another’s data and intelligence information anonymously, ensuring compliance and skirting around the potential problem of data misuse.

“Many people believe that fraud is a

Improving transparency in insurance The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently launched a consultation over its proposals to improve transparency in the insurance industry by forcing insurers to publish data related to product value.

Comparison website GoCompare has responded to the proposals, with founding member Lee Griffin commenting: “The FCA’s proposals will mean that in the future, most insurance products will be measured on their value, using a set of factors including claim acceptance rates and the number of claimrelated complaints. Under these proposals insurers must publish the data and then use it to consider whether their products offer value to their customers. The overall aim being to increase competition on product value.

“As the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, and the first to incorporate independent product ratings and customer reviews, we welcome this move by the FCA. While product and price information are more readily available and transparent than ever before, the claims side of the ‘value equation’ has remained in the dark for most policyholders.”

Customers, he said, should know if a product they are considering buying is potentially less likely to pay out on a claim, or if it has been the subject of a higher than normal level of complaints relating to claims. Informed choice is an essential aspect of the purchasing process, but currently consumers basically

relatively small and victimless crime,” said the IFB’s Director Ben Fletcher. “However, the truth is far more serious. Insurance fraud ensnares thousands every year, ruining lives and plunging many desperate people into criminality. It is vital that the industry pulls together to challenge this common enemy. It’s in everyone’s interest that fraud is effectively tackled and reduced in scale. We decided to work with SAS as it had a proven track record of helping tackle fraud, with many of the functionalities that the IFB needed off-theshelf. However, SAS also helped create bespoke features, including two-factor authentication, visualised results and search functionalities specially for the IFB platform.”

just have to trust that their insurer will step up if the worst happens. “Key to this is the availability of data,” he continued. “If it was available now, we’d already be showing our customers the claims pay-out and experience information. We have to look at this in conjunction with other initiatives running at the moment – for example, the CMA’s work on loyalty penalties, which result in millions of existing customers paying more than new ones for the same product. Together, these two initiatives have the potential to transform the insurance landscape and significantly improve value for money for customers.”

CII releases ethnicity pay gap figures The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) in the UK, as part of its ongoing efforts to spearhead improved diversity in the insurance industry, has voluntarily released ethnicity pay gap figures for its own employees The CII hopes that by publishing these figures, the wider sector will follow suit, leading to a wider conversation about inclusion and the importance of fostering greater inclusivity in business.

The data has been released as part of a wide-ranging report which includes recommendations for employers on how they can improve diversity in the

and analysis of the data found that the mean hourly pay gap was less than one per cent, and narrowly skewed in favour of white colleagues (by one per cent).

The median hourly pay gap was found to be 16 per cent and indicated that non-white employees are favoured over white employees by around 16 per cent.

“We are proud of the figures in our ethnicity pay gap,” said Tali Shlomo, the CII’s People Engagement Director, “but numbers alone don’t tell the whole story.

The ethos behind our decision to disclose this data lies in an impassioned belief that transparency is the key to changing the dialogue around diversity and inclusion in our sector. The opportunities and rewards

The ethos behind our decision to disclose this data lies in an impassioned belief that transparency is the key to changing the dialogue around diversity and inclusion in our sector workplace. Among the recommendations are that companies review the approach they take to recruitment, introduce mandatory training for managers to raise the issue of unconscious bias, bake the importance of diversity and inclusion into operational and management culture so that it will not fall by the wayside, set ambitious targets and monitor them closely, and encourage reverse mentoring for senior employees with colleagues of varied backgrounds.

Seventy per cent of the CII’s employees volunteered their ethnicity for the survey,

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for employers who embrace diversity and inclusion are huge, and the insurance profession has an opportunity to take a positive lead by preparing early and addressing diversity issues meaningfully, whether such requirements become statutory or not. Our sector has made progress in recent years – but there is much work still to be done. If we do not recognise unconscious bias and find better ways to make decisions, we will miss opportunities to use people’s talents to the full – which means we will be letting down both our colleagues and our clients.”

INSURANCE MATTERS

Consumers are worried about cyber risk

AI proposition from Capgemini

Europ Assistance recently carried out its first global consumer survey, conducted by Lexis across nine countries and including responses from 7,200 US and European customers. The Cyber Barometer survey found that 46 per cent of consumers have major concerns about the potential risk of cybercrime, rising to 49 per cent for respondents with elderly parents and 54 per cent for those who have children.

Thirty-one per cent of consumers said that they felt ‘exposed’ to cybersecurity risks, rising to 38 per cent when it came to concerns surrounding their children’s identity.

Southern Europe saw the highest levels of worry, with Spain and Italy coming top, with 47 per cent and 39 per cent respectively expressing concern about this area. Twentysix per cent of respondents to the survey said that they knew somebody who had suffered an attack on their personal data, while 82 per cent described the potential of such an attack as a ‘very stressful’ proposition and listed it as a greater concern than a car accident.

Unfortunately, despite high levels of anxiety surrounding cybercrime, this concern does not necessarily translate into a focus on protection. Less than one-third of respondents to Europ Assistance’s survey said that they frequently changed their passwords and other digital credentials, and only half said that they had anti-virus and anti-malware software on their tablets and smartphones. Forty-five per cent, meanwhile, said that they would not know how to rectify the situation if their personal data was compromised, and 48 per cent accused companies and institutions of not doing enough to protect customer information.

The survey did uncover some positives, luckily, in that awareness of these issues

Consulting, technology and digital transformation firm Capgemini has launched a new portfolio of AI-based solutions and services designed to help organisations build and operate enterprise-grade AI in support of sustainable business expansion.

Called Perform AI, the portfolio provides customers with a comprehensive set of solutions designed to help businesses integrate AI into their organisational frameworks, improving operational outcomes, driving innovation and enabling the provision of immersive, personalised

Mergers and acquisitons (M&A) in the global insurance sector grew by nine per cent last year, an increase largely driven by new technology, suggests a new report from Clyde & Co. Global insurers are reportedly focusing on M&A as a way to broaden their access to innovation and an enhanced customer base, and reap the benefits of greater scale.

According to Clyde & Co’s report, insurers completed 382 M&A deals in 2018, up from 350 in 2017. Companies are snapping up new technological solutions wherever they can, in the hope that this will drive increased market share and deliver more efficient and effective underwriting services to customers new and old.

However, the picture wasn’t consistent in all regions – the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific all saw M&A activity rising, but the Middle East and Africa saw a drop in the number of deals being done.

Technology, explains Clyde & Co, is a ‘skeleton key’ that can be used to unlock multiple doors to new processes and customers: “Companies with the deepest customer insights will become increasingly dominant and M&A immediately delivers the acquirer a vastly expanded pool of data.”

The report predicts, however, that broader M&A activity is likely to slow down over the first few months of 2019. This is due to a confluence of various factors: lack of momentum in emerging and developing economies, the looming threat of Brexit, trade wars and increased protectionism

Most companies have already started to experiment with AI to help them transform certain functions within their business, but those that adopt it effectively and throughout the enterprise will gain true competitive advantage

and a willingness to purchase solutions are increasing, even if the willingness is not leading to concrete action as frequently as might be desired. Sixty-five per cent of Americans were aware of identity protection solutions, compared to 40 per cent of Europeans, but 55 per cent of overall respondents said that they had a favourable view of cyber and digital protection services, rising to 61 per cent for respondents with children and 57 per cent for those with elderly parents.

“Consumers are now more aware of threats to their personal information,” said Antoine Parisi, CEO of Europ Assistance, “and while the mounting concerns they have are valid, it is our mission to protect people from any stressful situation. With digital services playing such a key role in our daily lives, we have developed a unique service to protect the identities and personal data of our customers from any type of cybercrime.”

Technology driving M&A

experiences for customers. According to the company, Perform AI ‘brings together people, process, data and technology to realise superior, sustainable and trusted business performance’.

Recent findings from the Capgemini Research Institute suggests that a combination of unfounded anxiety and ignorance is rendering companies blind to both the genuine risks and many opportunities posed by AI. Pragmatism, then, should be the order of the day; after all, as forecasts cited by Capgemini estimate, global spending on cognitive and AI technology is due to grow to US$52.2 billion by 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 46.2 per cent over the intervening period. The train is not stopping.

“Most companies have already started to

impact, resulting in tangible performance outcomes for today and in the future.”

Perform AI aims to help businesses industrialise AI across the breadth of their enterprises, scaling based on the individual needs of the organisation, while seeking to proactively manage any resulting impacts on staff, so that the relationship between employees and AI is a symbiotic one. The process, according to Capgemini, is a holistic one, encompassing all business operations both within and outside of the organisation, with responsible ethics embedded into the framework.

Through this, it is hoped, entirely new business models can be stimulated, potentially representing a quantum leap for organisations involved.

Insurtech competition winners announced Zurich Insurance Group has announced the winners of its inaugural Zurich Innovation World Championship, a competition designed to find and reward the most innovative insurtech startups working today

are all ‘casting long shadows’. The second half of the year could potentially see a pick-up, as there will be at least some clarity around Brexit and any resulting disruption will also create opportunities.

“Transaction activity worldwide was buoyant in 2018,” said Andrew Holderness, Global Head of Clyde & Co’s Corporate Insurance Group. “Against a backdrop of stiff competition on pricing, stock market volatility and persistently low interest rates, a merger or acquisition remains a key strategy to reach new customers and markets, and drive down costs by delivering synergies.

However, factors including Brexit, trade wars and protectionism are generating uncertainty, the enemy of deal-making. The slowdown in the Americas in the second half of last year is indicative of heightened investor caution and we predict 2019 will be a year of two halves – a slowdown in M&A in some markets in the first six months, while the second half should see a return to form.”

experiment with AI to help them transform certain functions within their business, but those that adopt it effectively and throughout the enterprise will gain true competitive advantage,” said Capgemini’s Group Chief Innovation Officer Lanny Cohen. “To realise true real-world impact and ensure sustained success, companies need to move beyond isolated initiatives to infusing AI into everything they do – from simply changing technologies to shifting the entire game. With Perform AI, we are laser-focused on applying AI to achieve mission-critical, high business

Chisel AI, which applies artificial intelligence technology to unstructured data sources in order to improve the processing process, was the gold winner in the competition, with Zesty.ai taking the silver prize and LifeNome and Soldier.ly joint bronze.

The winning companies will work with Zurich’s Business Units to construct pilot programmes, with a view to making their propositions available to Zurich’s customer base in selected regions.

They were honoured at an awards ceremony at Zurich’s main headquarters in Switzerland, having been judged by the insurer’s executive committee.

“We are pleased that Chisel AI, Zesty. ai, LifeNome and Soldier.ly are the winners of the first Zurich Innovation World Championship,” said Giovanni Giuliani, Zurich’s Group Chief Strategy, Innovation and Business Development Officer. “Each of these insurtech startups demonstrated they can fully support Zurich and its customers with pioneering ideas and products. We are committed to drive transformation and innovation in the insurance industry and I am excited to

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see what our winners’ pilot programmes will deliver for Zurich and the industry.”

The Innovation World Championship saw nearly 500 startups from around the world submitting their products and services; Zurich will work not just with the overall winners, but with selected local winners from previous rounds.

“The Zurich Innovation World Championship underlines our ongoing quest to attract and retain the best and most innovative talent across the globe,” said Mario Greco, Group CEO of Zurich. “We received applications from Argentina to Australia, demonstrating the breadth of talent, ideas and people who recognise the opportunity to work with and learn from Zurich. We are very excited to be working with our winners to develop cutting-edge new services, approaches and capabilities that will help us better meet the evolving needs of our customers, employees and other stakeholders globally.”

INDUSTRY VOICE

Cutting through the jargon Neil Hare-Brown, CEO of STORM|Guidance – creator of cyber insurance comparator Cyber|Decider – highlights the importance of standardised terminology for cyber insurance Although insurance brokers are receiving more enquiries about cyber insurance, this is still a type of insurance that a minority of SMEs purchase. Conversion rates are low, and there are various reasons for this, including cost, uncertainty of cover, lack of clarity on cover needs and the failure of SMEs to fully perceive their true cyber risk.

The uncertainty on risk and cover is made worse by the lack of standard terminology in cyber insurance policies, which causes confusion for brokers and customers and is ultimately stifling market growth.

There is much confusion about the policies available and the terms of cover because insurers fail to use standard wordings.

For instance, what one calls ‘network expenditure’, another terms ‘data restoration costs’; in some policies the definition of ‘computer’ also includes ‘industrial control systems’, in others it does not.

Clients are missing out on getting the right cover because cyber insurance is an area that causes brokers confusion, and insurers have done little to rectify that. When you combine confusing policy wording with the tech jargon around cybersecurity, you are creating an off-putting combination for many brokers.

Tangible impacts The off-putting and confusing language used in cyber policies is a barrier for both brokers and clients, and it is essential that underwriters are aware of the extent to which the current complicated and often contradictory wordings are stifling market growth.

The upshot of the current situation is that many brokers will only offer customers a blanket policy, whether that is right or wrong for the customer’s specific needs. It means fewer policies are sold and clients are badly served.

An example of cover differences and limitations is the cover provided for the costs a business will incur after a data breach involving loss of credit card data (PCI). Because cyber policies are sold to cover loss from data breaches, businesses naturally assume that liabilities resulting from a breach of payment cardholder data will be covered. Most travel companies accept payment by credit card and so will have significant amounts of this type of sensitive personal data.

Many policies do provide cover for ‘PCI costs’ – but the definition of these costs,

and so the extent of cover provided in each policy, differs widely. In some policies these costs will include the PCI fines or penalties only. Others recognise the significant PCI exposure beyond fines and penalties and their cover includes fraud assessments, card reissuance costs, case management fees and PFI investigation expenses as well.

Additionally, many policies contain a condition requiring the insured to be payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS) compliant at the time the breach – it is rare for a company to be fully compliant at the time of a breach – and/or contain relatively low sub-limits for PCI costs, making it hard for the insured to ever be fully reimbursed for its losses.

may also be susceptible to attacks on its website (e.g. denial of service attacks).

That business will need to ensure that it has a cyber policy that not only provides broad data breach cover but also business interruption cover that includes not just

Many policies do provide cover for data breaches involving loss of credit card data – but the definition of these costs, and so the extent of cover provided in each policy, differs widely

Essential duties Understanding the cover each insurer’s policy provides and then ensuring that cover meets the needs of the buyer is a crucial part of the insurance broker’s role. The insurance

Clients are missing out on getting the right cover because cyber insurance is an area that causes brokers confusion, and insurers have done little to rectify that needs of a travel business will differ widely from those of a manufacturer. For example, the travel business, in addition to having a considerable amount of sensitive personal data about customers (e.g. health issues),

closure of its whole computer system but also forced closure of its website, even when externally hosted. As the definition of ‘business interruption’ differs between policies it is difficult to see the extent of cover each policy provides.

For example, one policy defines business interruption as ‘the suspension or degradation of the service provided by the company’s computer system solely caused by a security failure’. It is not clear if a denial of service attack on a website hosted externally would be covered (in this case the definitions of computer system and security failure reveals that it is covered).

No-brainer Across all other insurance lines, whether commercial or personal, underwriters use standard terminology to be clear and concise about the terms of cover available. But insurers offering cyber

cover have been reluctant to use standard wordings because of misinformed concerns that sharing an agreed standard policy is anti-competitive and illegal.

Harmonised wordings can help develop the cyber insurance market by: • Establishing a common understanding of the cover available.

• Enabling like-for-like price comparisons.

• Helping less-aware customers (and their brokers) better understand the options available to them.

• Assisting brokers with assessing the correct insurer more easily and providing the right policy for a particular client.

• Increasing the conversion rate as customers better understand the products. ■

Neil Hare-Brown

Join us for the 27th annual ITIC Global

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INSURANCE MATTERS

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TRAVEL MATTERS

Travelling Brits have Brexit concerns The Brexit turmoil engulfing the UK, by all accounts, does not seem to be slowing down – 59 per cent of Brits reportedly see it as the biggest issue currently facing the country. But is it having an effect on travel habits?

International market research and data analytics firm YouGov decided to find out, convening a pair of online focus groups; one was made up of parents aged 18-40, the other of non-parents of the same age range.

Everyone participating had been on a holiday overseas over the past 12 months, and their attitudes to Brexit were wide-ranging.

The aggregated research found that Brexit came third in Brits’ top travel concerns, after crime and terrorism (parents were particularly worried about these latter two factors).

Despite this comparatively high showing, however, Brexit does not seem to be affecting travel plans: 60 per cent of Brits took at least one trip abroad last year, and over 37

it is now clear that a no-deal Brexit would have a dramatic impact on one of the UK’s most significant sectors per cent took two or more. Thirty-nine per cent of Brits said that they were definitely planning on taking such a trip this year, with 50 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds saying this.

When asked which factors would be most

likely to have an effect on their travel plans in 2019, 45 per cent of focus group participants cited safety concerns such as terrorism or crime, while 30 per cent said Brexit, another 30 per cent said exchange rates, 27 per cent said visa / passport considerations and 12 per cent cited environmental concerns.

This being said, concern does not seem to be translating into behavioural trends; 76 per cent of Brits said that they were ‘no more or less likely’ to take a holiday overseas because of Brexit.

“To be honest,” said one, “Brexit hadn’t occurred to me in the context of holidays.”

Tourism jobs could be destroyed According to a new report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), a no-deal Brexit could result in the loss of thousands of travel and tourism jobs both in the UK and in Europe. Should the UK leave the EU without a deal on 29 March, which is not beyond the realms of possibility despite the staggeringly catastrophic implications, the WTTC estimates that over 300,000 travel and tourism jobs could be lost in the UK, and 400,000 in Europe.

Currently, according to the WTTC, travel and tourism contributes more than €1.5 trillion to

the EU’s GDP annually – 10.3 per cent of the overall total – and supports over 27 million jobs. In the UK, travel and tourism contributes £213.8 billion to GDP, or 10.5 per cent of the overall total, with four million jobs supported.

The job losses that could result from a no-deal Brexit, the WTTC estimates, would drive a loss of £18.6 billion from the UK’s economy and £22 billion from the EU. “The UK is the fifth largest travel and tourism economy in the world,” said Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of the WTTC. “Given its importance to the UK economy, it is now clear that a no-deal Brexit would have a dramatic impact on one of the UK’s most significant sectors. If the International Monetary Fund prediction on the wider economy is realised, there would be a total cost across Europe of over £40 billion and over 700,000 jobs compared to our projections. Our members are already seeing an impact on their businesses and workforce.”

In order to avoid these potentially devastating repercussions, the WTTC says that it is crucial that the UK maintains continuing access to the Single Aviation Market; that visa-free travel between the UK and the EU is maintained, with movement of people continuing to be as seamless as possible; that the mobility of labour across the UK and EU for travel and tourism employees should carry on; and security co-operation should be maintained in order to avoid hard border checks and lengthy delays.

CMA rebukes hotel-booking sites

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK has enforced stricter advertising regulations following misleading discount claims and hidden charges on several hotel-booking sites.

The investigation, which began in June 2018, came after the CMA grew concerned that the sites Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda, Hotels.com, Ebookers and Trivago were making rooms appear more popular than they were, and that the information provided for each did not accurately reflect what was on offer. Deeming this ‘wholly unacceptable’, Andrew Tyrie, CMA Chairman, said: “The CMA has taken enforcement action to bring to an end misleading sales tactics, hidden charges and other practices in the online hotel booking market.”

The companies have since agreed to

adhere to the following regulations: clear grading of hotels, displaying if any have paid more to appear further up on ranking sites; accurate reflection of hotels’ popularity; promoting only the discounts that are available at the time of booking; and displaying all charges in the price, including taxes, booking or resort fees.

Speaking on British Broadcasting Channel Radio 4, Michel Grenfell, Executive Director of Enforcement at the CMA, said: “You can get some good bargains on these sites, but it is very important that you can trust what they say.” He added that not ‘all of the six companies had partaken in these bad practices’, but they would continue to be monitored and have until 1 September 2019 to comply with the new regulations to avoid being taken to court.

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TRAVEL MATTERS

Heathrow implements AI tech London Heathrow Airport in the UK is rolling out new artificial intelligence technology that, it is hoped, will help to cut down on flight delays The airport has installed the technology in its control tower in an effort to help air traffic controllers more precisely track aircraft during periods when visibility has been reduced. Currently, when visibility is reduced, extra time needs to be implemented between landings, which can result in a loss of arrivals capacity of up to 20 per cent, with many attendant knock-on effects.

The trial is being overseen by Nats, an air traffic management service, and makes use of ultra high-definition 4K cameras, AI and machine learning capabilities. The cameras

feed footage of aircraft into the AI system, which uses machine learning to analyse and interpret the images, track the aircraft and then give relevant information to a human controller, reducing workloads and making the process of deciding when to give landing permission smoother and more efficient.

“I am convinced that this technology

this technology could potentially revolutionise how air traffic is managed at airports around the world can totally revolutionise how air traffic is managed at airports around the world,” said Andy Taylor, Chief Solution Officer at Nats. “It’s man and machine working in perfect harmony.”

Travel boom is leaving the US behind A study has revealed that the US is failing to keep up with the growing global tourism industry, despite a seven-per-cent increase in travel and tourism worldwide Bayut.com, a Dubai-based real-estate database, has analysed and reported on statistical findings from the US Government’s National Travel and Tourism Office, highlighting the trend of

suggested: “Africa and the Middle East experience tremendous income inequality, suggesting only a limited number of wealthy people can afford to visit America at all.”

Top visitors to the US included: Canada, which, along with Mexico, made up the vast majority of tourism arrivals; the UK, which accounted for almost 6.2 million arrivals; and Japan and China, following closely behind with five million and 4.4 million visitors respectively. Indeed, although numbers

Africa and the Middle East experience tremendous income inequality, suggesting only a limited number of wealthy people can afford to visit America at all international visitations to the US in recent years and noting an overall decline.

The study showed that Mexico remains the number two source of international visitors to the US, but that these numbers have dropped significantly in the Trump era due to what some experts believe to be a ‘Trump slump’. This trend ‘could cost the US more than one billion dollars per year according to some estimates’, the study says.

The study went on to say that ‘no matter which part of the world they hail from, international tourists tend to spend far more than Americans do’: “Among visitors to New York City, for example, international tourists spend four times as much as travellers from other parts of the US.” Furthermore, though Asia-Pacific nations provided the greatest number of US visitors in 2017, Europeans significantly outspent the Asians, and Africa and the Middle East further outspent the Europeans. The study

WTTC outlines travel ‘mega trends’

from China are ‘substantial’, the study also identifies that this is likely to increase in years to come: “While just seven per cent of Chinese citizens have a passport currently, they’re projected to account for one-quarter of all global travel by 2030.”

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) recently released a wide-ranging report in which it discusses the various ‘mega trends’ that it forecasts in the global travel industry over the coming decades.

One of the headline figures – perhaps alarmingly for those keeping an eye on the pace of climate breakdown – is a prediction of eight billion air travellers by 2037, though the report also suggests that travel and tourism companies will need to take sustainability into account, responding to trends in ethical consumption by ensuring that the destinations they promote remain well protected.

The report also notes that consumers seem to be moving away from treating travelling and similar experiences as social currency and focusing more on shared experiences that inspire stronger personal connections and drive self-improvement and existential meaning. It states that millennials and Generation Z are less interested in the words of experts than previous generations, have little loyalty towards brands or employers, and therefore rely on personal networks when making decisions about travelling.

Technology is something that the modern consumer tends to be comfortable with, but at the same time over-automation is a cause for concern; consumers still relish the human touch where possible and want to be treated as individuals by the companies that provide services for them.

“We live in an era of rapidly accelerating change,” said Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of the WTTC. “Powerful, global forces are fundamentally changing the way we live, work and travel at a rate we have never witnessed before. These converging forces – or mega trends – present immense opportunities for those who recognise them and adapt their strategies. The challenge is for destinations and businesses to embrace the opportunities of this changing global landscape and the expectations of tomorrow’s consumers.”

According to the report, the most profound and seismic changes in the travel sector over

travel and tourism companies will need to take sustainability into account the coming decades will involve: technology, as people’s lives become more integrated and connected; new economies such as the gig and sharing economies, which will change working and cultural expectations; the ubiquity and power of data; shifting geopolitical and social power dynamics; and the need for eco-friendly, sustainable living and business practices, as ballooning populations and resulting consumption habits rub up against the unfortunate reality of a finite world.

Improved tourist safety for Thailand The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) is teaming up with state agencies such as the Department of Land Transport, Marine Department and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to improve tourist safety standards across the country The partnership will improve land and marine transportation standards, as well as other aspects of tourism safety such as food, accommodation, tour guides and cybersecurity.

Safety standards for tour buses will be the first to launch this April, and according to TCT Vice-President Wasuchet Sophonsathien, at least 1,000 tour buses out of 15,000 buses nationwide should meet the standards within the year: aside from vehicle checks, bus drivers must be trained regarding tour services, have limited driving hours and drive responsibly.

Wasuchet, who is also President of the Thai Transportation Operators Association, added that certified tour buses would also receive a safety standard logo. Government bodies like the TAT, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, and Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau will promote the logo and set an example by using these certified buses, and the logo will also be publicised through Chinese government websites.

Furthermore, since the Phuket boat tragedy in 2018 – when a boat carrying 93 Chinese tourists and 12 Thai crew and tour guides capsized in rough waters off Koh Hei, south of Phuket, resulting in a large number of fatalities – TCT members in beach destinations including Pattaya, Phuket and Krabi have been working closely with the Thai Marine Department and local

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tour operators to look for illegal tour boats and unlicensed captains. Hundreds of arrests have been made and Wasuchet has revealed that the TCT will also be launching tour boat standards by the end of this year, which include getting tour boat operators to install GPS devices and provide GPS tracking wristbands for their passengers.

TCT President Chairat Triratanajarasporn added: “This will help to upgrade Thai tourism standards concretely and is the most important project of the council this year.” He also added that there are plans to establish a technology subcommittee, which will help tourism operators stay up-to-date with the latest technology.

INDUSTRY VOICE

The noise above the drone: detecting the unexpected Jonathan Barrett, Managing Director, Europe at Dataminr, highlights how the aviation industry can better manage its approach to communications when crises inevitably occur The aviation industry has been abuzz with drone discussion. The sighting on a Gatwick runway in December 2018 caused major disruption, affecting around 140,000 passengers and over 1,000 flights during 36 hours of confusion.

to raise their grievances. However, the issue can be exacerbated when customers make complaints indirectly, bypassing official channels. These posts can fly under the radar, and if left unaddressed, the fallout can be immediate and far-reaching.

Ultimately, a brand’s reputation is at stake.

Increasingly, national news outlets are using social media to stay abreast of breaking events, citing these sources for first-person accounts, on-the-ground video footage, and securing other vital information in real time. This means when posts go up, the

The sighting of a drone on a Gatwick runway in December 2018 affected around 140,000 passengers and over 1,000 flights during 36 hours of confusion Social media was awash with disgruntled travellers, confused onlookers and brands scrambling to react to the ongoing crisis.

In this scenario, misinformation can circulate just as quickly as fact. Communications teams are given the difficult task of communicating clearly with customers, and for those left to deal with these issues, social media is often seen as an adversary. However, with the right approach, aviation professionals can manage a crisis effectively. By using social channels and real-time alerting to share the right information at the right time with customers, airlines may be able to negate these issues, which will culminate in a more positive customer experience that protects or even enhances brand reputation – a strategic priority for any business.

Customers on the radar In an ideal scenario, airports run like clockwork. That said, with so many moving parts, and vital departments often working in siloed teams, providing streamlined customer service can be a challenge.

Customers transition from check-in desks, to security and the departure lounge without understanding who is accountable when things go wrong. This is the moment when customers turn to social media.

Often, disgruntled customers’ first instinct is to turn to official airport social media channels

situation can quickly spiral out of control.

Worse still, passengers often associate their experience at the airport with the airline they booked with, rather than the airport itself. On a day-to-day basis, this could include more trivial issues such as delays at security, but inconveniences like this are unlikely to cause major reputational damage. However, serious issues can pose real reputation risk, and the closure of Gatwick airport for 36 hours due to a drone sighting is a perfect example. In these situations, as airlines take the flak for cancelled flights, all areas of the airport operation need to be aligned in their communications and have the most up-to-date information available in order to mitigate the crisis effectively. This alignment starts with the planning process.

The drone crisis was, at the time, difficult to predict. When it comes to crisis planning, it is as much about preparation as being flexible and quick to react to situations in

responsible for, but for issues outside of their control and how any of these can have wider ramifications for the company.

Reacting in real time Enabling teams to have access to accurate, real-time insights should be central to any

passengers often associate their experience at the airport with the airline they booked with, rather than the airport itself

with so many moving parts, and vital departments often working in siloed teams, providing streamlined customer service [in airports] can be a challenge the moment. In planning for a variety of crisis situations, it’s essential that brands don’t just look at what they may be directly

organisation’s crisis strategy. Social media provides a rich pool of data, and having the ability to sift through this information for an instant view of real-time chatter is invaluable. In addition, many businesses are incorporating other sources such as blogs, the dark web and information sensors to build their awareness of breaking events.

Acting impulsively, without having full awareness of the situation, can have a devastating effect. In a worst case scenario, security or communications teams could create a new crisis by communicating or acting on inaccurate information. In contrast, brands that use real-time insights to provide concise and accurate updates to their customers can

quickly dispel rumours and alleviate concerns.

It is not just the direct customer experience that is at stake. A brand’s fiscal performance is closely linked to its public perception.

Therefore, a poorly managed crisis can damage the trust of shareholders and severely impact profits. On the other hand, a well-handled crisis can help build and instill trust, positively affecting company growth.

In the case of the Gatwick drone crisis, Easy Jet reported losses of £15 million. This was due to a combination of both ‘customer welfare costs’ and flight cancellation fees.

Businesses must move with caution. These initial costs can escalate if communications are handled poorly and consumers begin to turn against the brand in question.

The power of reputation On a macro scale, protecting brand reputation should be the highest strategic priority of a business. This stems from sustaining high levels of customer service, even during a crisis. In the case of Gatwick and the multitude of businesses impacted by the crisis, it was vital that all parties respond in a swift, seamless and simple manner.

In doing so, each business could protect its reputation at the most critical times.

Using alternative data sets such as social media to secure real-time insights, is how forward thinking organisations are effectively steering their brand through crises. By understanding the opinions, cares and concerns of their customers, they can help to provide the information that is necessary.

By ensuring all voices are heard, businesses can implement new processes, or shore up existing processes that ultimately enhance the customer experience. ■

Jonathan Barrett

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TRAVEL MATTERS

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HEALTH MATTERS

Poor hygiene causes hepatitis outbreak

Healix predicts 2019 health challenges

On the Gulf of Nicoya Coast in Costa Rica, contaminated food is believed to be responsible for 33 hepatitis infections reported over an 11-day period in January in Barranca, Chacarita and El Roble.

Following laboratory tests which came back negative, the Ministry of Health has ruled out the possibility of contaminated water having caused the outbreak. “The research carried out by epidemiologists confirms that the source of contamination was poor hygiene in the preparation of food products and the presence of fecal coliforms (faeces) in food.”

Hepatitis A mainly occurs through oral contact with the faeces of a contaminated person, which can happen through contaminated food and water, handling everyday items and sexual contact.

The disease poses a significant risk to travellers in developing countries where sanitation and hygiene are lacking.

Infection is vaccine preventable and a course of hepatitis A vaccine offers highly effective and long-term prevention.

Global travel risk management and international medical and security assistance provider Healix International has predicted the big health challenges it believes businesses sending employees abroad may face this year, including Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zika in India and the Americas “Diseases that tend to be more associated with far-off regions remain top of the list of concerns – including Ebola, the Zika virus and malaria. But employers also need to be mindful of the risks of some diseases that are just as common at home,” Healix stated. “For example, measles and mumps can present serious risks and both remain prevalent thanks to the fact that many parents shun the MMR vaccine. Employers therefore need to ensure that they’re monitoring all health risks when posting staff abroad.”

Diseases that tend to be more associated with far-off regions remain top of the list of concerns – including Ebola, the Zika virus and malaria The Ebola outbreak in the DRC continues, with further infections expected this year.

Healix said that one of the challenges in trying to bring these types of outbreaks under control is the resistance of local

Project on infectious disease vaccination

communities to accepting the guidance of healthcare professionals. When it comes to Zika, Healix said that the disease is likely to be widely reported in 2019 in the form of new epidemics and also the delayed consequences of past infection, with around six per cent of babies infected in the womb likely to be affected by microcephaly, while a further eight per cent could experience developmental delay, movement problems, and/or seizures.

Healix also predicts that poorer tropical countries face a potential increase in malaria cases, with a reduction in

Influenza in the US According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s latest weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report, influenza activity is continuing to increase in the US, with influenza A(H1N1) pdm09, influenza A(H3N2) and influenza B viruses continuing to co-circulate.

The report states that, in the week ending 2 February, the proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) increased to 4.3 per cent, which is above the national baseline of 2.2 per cent. In addition, the geographic spread of influenza in Puerto Rico and 47 states was reported as widespread, two states reported regional activity, the District of Columbia and one state reported local activity, the US Virgin Islands reported sporadic activity and Guam did not report.

A project sponsored by the EU entitled ‘Vaccines and InfecTious diseases in the Ageing popuLation’ (VITAL) has been launched to address the challenges posed by infections in the elderly and the potential of infections to be prevented by vaccination. University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands will be the managing entity and scientific lead, and the project will run from 2019-23.

The idea is that the project will take a multidisciplinary public-private approach that will generate health, economic and societal benefits by mapping the disease burden of infectious diseases to be prevented by vaccines, investigate immunity to infections and vaccinations in the ageing population, calculate the clinical and economic

mosquito prevention programmes, or a failure in basic hygienic measures leading to environments favourable to mosquito propagation. In addition, the company said that further epidemics of cholera are inevitable in 2019, with many countries lacking safe water provision.

Another concern for health experts is the possibility of a bird flu that is capable of infecting humans. Healix said that it is crucial for organisations to ensure that they have adequate pandemic planning so that they know what to do if and when an outbreak occurs and can therefore reduce risk.

Regarding hospitalisation, the report states that a cumulative rate of 20.1 laboratory-confirmed influenzaassociated hospitalisations per 100,000 population was reported, with the highest hospitalisation rate among adults aged 65 and older. The report also says that four influenzaassociated paediatric deaths were reported to the CDC during this week.

The CDC’s recommendations for travellers are for everyone aged six months and older to get a yearly vaccine, ideally in the autumn before the US flu season begins. It also recommends that people sick with symptoms of influenza-like illness such as sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headache and fatigue should not travel.

consequences of possible vaccination strategies in different age and risk groups, and develop teaching tools for stakeholders.

Consortium academic leader Professor Dr Debbie van Baarle explains more: “An ageing immune system is known to cause increased infection rates in elderly people.

Prevention of infectious diseases in the elderly through vaccination is a requirement to promote healthy ageing in this growing population. Our main challenge, in close collaboration with our European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations partners, is to overcome the reduced immune responsiveness of this age group by improving the efficacy of vaccines and to identify new vaccination strategies to protect elderly people from infectious diseases.”

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HEALTH MATTERS

Measles cases rising

Dengue may hit Jamaica

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) have reported a significant increase in measles cases from various countries in 2019 On 10 January, the CDC reported that 349 individual cases of measles were confirmed in 26 states and the District of Colombia during 2018 – the largest number of annual cases of the disease reported since it was eliminated in the US in 2000. According to the CDC, the majority of measles outbreaks in 2018 were associated with international travellers who brought the disease back from Israel, Italy, France and the UK. On 19 January, Clark County Washington Public Health officials confirmed 19 cases and five suspected cases during 2019.

A common thread in the US outbreak is that, in the majority of confirmed cases, the individuals were unvaccinated The ongoing measles outbreak in Washington, US has reached the highest number of infections since 1996, according to an official. There have been 38 confirmed and 13 suspected cases so far. In addition, two people fell ill in Hawaii, having travelled from Washington, where they were infected. In Georgia, the Department of Health has confirmed that

three members of the same family had contracted the disease. These people were not vaccinated, and the Georgia Department of Public Health recently announced that they are now out of the infectious state of the disease. There has been no connection made between the outbreak in Washington and the three cases in Georgia. A further case has been confirmed in Multnomah County in Oregon, which has been connected to the outbreak in Washington.

The contagious virus spreads through the air via coughing and sneezing and will kill one or two out of every 1,000 children who contract it. A common thread in the US outbreak is that, in the majority of confirmed cases, the individuals were unvaccinated, which brings home the importance of vaccination.

PAHO reported a total of 16,039 confirmed measles cases, including 86 deaths, as of

epidemiological week (EW) two of 2019, in 12 countries of the region of the Americas during 2018. It said that: between EW six of 2018 and EW two of 2019, Brazil reported a total of 10,274 confirmed cases, including 12 deaths; between EW 45 of 2018 and EW two of 2019, Chile reported 24 confirmed cases; and between EW 26 of 2017 and EW 52 of 2018, Venezuela reported 6,395 confirmed measles cases.

According to WHO, the total number of confirmed measles cases for 2018 exceeds the 12-month totals reported for every other year this decade. It reported that seven countries in the WHO European Region – France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Ukraine – have seen more than 1,000 infections this year.

The CDC has also issued a travel notice for Kazakhstan, warning that any tourists heading there should ensure that they are vaccinated.

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The Caribbean Public Health Agency has stated that another regional outbreak of dengue fever may occur in the near future.

While there have been extensive outbreaks of Zika and chikungunya in Jamaica, there hasn’t been a large-scale outbreak of dengue in the past 10 years. The announcement was prompted by increased dengue case numbers in Latin America, a recent spike in cases in Jamaica and disease monitoring carried out by the Caribbean Public Health Agency.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, pain behind the eyes and severe aching of muscles and bones. A rash may appear three to four days after the onset of fever and symptoms will usually resolve in seven to 10 days, but fatigue can last for two to four weeks. As dengue is spread by mosquitoes, travellers are advised to take precautions such as covering up with long-sleeved tops, trousers and shoes and socks, and using repellent.

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HEALTH MATTERS

Reducing antibiotic use impeded by fears A new study from the University of Warwick in the UK has found that efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics in low-to-middle-income countries could be impeded by fears around leaving infectious diseases untreated and poorly enforced antibiotic supply controls The research is one of the most detailed qualitative analyses of the context of clinical trials in antimicrobial resistance ever conducted. It calls for the routine collection of social data alongside clinical trials to help tailor the local appropriateness of clinical interventions and help researchers interpret their findings.

The researchers analysed clinical trials in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam and identified disparities relating to the effectiveness of a five-minute finger-prick blood test to reduce antibiotic prescriptions for fever patients in primary healthcare. They found that if antibiotics were over-abundant or if healthcare workers were worried about deadly infectious diseases, they were less likely to follow the guidance provided by the biomarker test. They also found that if long and dangerous journeys prevented patients from follow-up visits to primary health centres, or if they struggled to understand the purpose of the test, then patients may be more likely to ignore the results and buy antibiotics without prescriptions from local grocery stores and pharmacies.

Lead author Dr Marco Haenssgen said: “An example of how context affected clinical adherence relates to the strong antibiotic policies and the ways to manage patients without antibiotics in Thailand. Some doctors

had a surprising oversupply of antibiotics to the extent that they almost felt they needed to prescribe to get rid of the surplus medicine. This was of course not the only way in which clinician adherence varied, but it shows how the same AMR intervention might or might not work, and how we need to tailor our interventions specifically for each country – one size doesn’t fit all contexts.

“For researchers, more contextual data from clinical trials means that we will be able to carry out meta-analyses to identify which contextual factor (e.g. poverty, complementary health policy) matters for the successful operation of a new intervention. That would then inform a design toolkit for clinicians that can guide them in identifying appropriate interventions or advocating for changes in policy.”

The BBC has reported on findings from researchers at Rockefeller University in New York City, US, suggesting that feeding mosquitoes human diet drugs can put them off biting. This tactic could potentially be used to prevent diseases such as Zika and malaria.

Experiments were conducted on Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which were given a saline solution containing the diet drugs.

The mosquitoes’ appetites were then found to be reduced. The researchers measured this by dangling a bit of nylon stocking full of body odour belonging to study author Laura Duvall, a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University, in front of them.

The team then tested all of the mosquitoes’ neuropeptide receptors with the diet drugs to

Falsified rabies vaccines found According to the World Health Organization, two falsified rabies vaccines have been discovered in circulation in the Philippines and increased vigilance should be taken by hospitals, clinics, health centres, wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies and any other suppliers of vaccines within the supply chains of the countries likely to be affected.

The falsified vaccines are Verorab. This is used for the prevention of rabies in children and adults and can be used to protect those who are at risk of exposure to rabies (pre-exposure vaccination) or to prevent the development of rabies after exposure

Diet pills quash mosquito appetites

discover which particular one was responsible for controlling and switching off a mosquito’s appetite. The researchers plan to use this information to find out where the receptor is produced in the insect’s body and how it is activated to control feeding behaviour.

“We’re starting to run out of ideas for ways to deal with insects that spread diseases, and this is a completely new way to think about insect control,” said Senior Author Leslie Vosshall, Head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behaviour at Rockefeller University. “Insecticides are failing because of resistance, we haven’t come up with a way to make better repellents, and we don’t yet have vaccines that work well enough against most mosquito-borne diseases to be useful.”

Travel warning for Venezuela

has occurred, usually following the bite of an animal suspected of having rabies (post-exposure prophylaxis). The stated manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur has confirmed that it did not manufacture these falsified vaccines. There have been no known adverse reactions reported to WHO. WHO has asked national health authorities to immediately notify it if these falsified vaccines are discovered in their country.

It also said that if anyone has any information concerning the manufacture, distribution, or supply of these vaccines, they should contact: rapidalert@who.int.

The US Department of State has issued an urgent travel advisory to all Americans who are in Venezuela or plan to travel to Venezuela, due to the US Government having ‘limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in Venezuela, due to extremely limited infrastructure and poor security conditions’.

The Department has ordered the departure of all non-emergency US government employees and family members from Venezuela, urged all other Americans in

Venezuela to return to the US, and said that those who plan to travel to Venezuela should reconsider travel to the country due to poor health infrastructure, as well as ‘crime, civil unrest, poor health infrastructure, and arbitrary arrest and detention of US citizens’.

In addition, the Department said that there are shortages of food, electricity, water, medicine, and medical supplies throughout much of Venezuela, prompting the US Centers for Disease Control and prevention to issue a Level 3 – Avoid Nonessential Travel notice.

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HEALTH MATTERS

WHO continues to monitor Ebola in DRC The latest WHO External Situation Report provides up-to-date details on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with a total of 785 cases reported from 18 health zones in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri as of 3 February 2019 As of 4 February, there had been 484 reported deaths, with a case fatality ratio among confirmed cases of 59 per cent.

The report states that the Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO and partners continue to monitor and investigate all alerts in affected areas, in other provinces in the

DRC, and in neighbouring countries.

All alerts outside the outbreak-affected areas have been investigated or laboratory tested to rule out Ebola.

Outbreak control interventions are being implemented by the MoH and other national authorities in the DRC, as well as by WHO and its partners. These include intensified active case finding in health facilities and communities, contact tracing and monitoring alerts from outbreak-affected areas.

A National Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Task Force has been formed to provide strategic technical guidance, and co-ordinate and oversee

the various partners and health zone IPC commissions; a revised IPC strategy with an operational work plan is being developed for the period February through March 2019, and extensive IPC

I believe we will have enough vaccine to stop this outbreak unless something very dramatic changes activities are ongoing throughout the DRC. These include: decontamination of households and health facilities with confirmed cases; briefings and training of healthcare providers, including those working in private healthcare facilities and tradi-modern facilities; and distribution of IPC kits, which include consumable items such as personal protective equipment.

At the present time, WHO has advised against any restriction of travel to the DRC. It said that it is closely monitoring the situation and will, if necessary, verify travel measures.

An end in sight?

In a rare spot of good news, WHO has predicted that there are adequate supplies of an experimental Ebola vaccine to control the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is potentially brilliant news and could be the answer to an epidemic that has been raging for months and months with no end in sight.

“I believe we will have enough vaccine to stop this outbreak, unless something very dramatic changes,” Dr Peter Salama, WHO’s Deputy Director-General of Emergency Preparedness and Response, told media company STAT. A clinical trial of the vaccine is ongoing but, according to preliminary analyses, it is working. The vaccine’s provisional name is V920 and it is made by Merck. It was first shown to be effective in a landmark clinical trial in Guinea, and Salama

said that the efficacy rate in the current outbreak is above 90 per cent. Promising news that is instilling hope in many.

Protecting healthcare workers Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have developed a new online training programme to keep healthcare workers safe when treating patients with Ebola. The online software package has been created via the SmartState spin-off company, SimTunes, LLC, and trains healthcare workers using simulation in safe Ebola disease response.

The researchers said that their findings in a small cohort of MUSC healthcare workers have been promising. “This training programme takes information from multiple resources, including the CDC, the National Ebola Training and Education Center and the European Network for Infectious Diseases,” said Dr Lacey MenkinSmith, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at MUSC. “What makes the programme unique is that it combines all that information into one training programme that is widely distributable.”

The training package aims to reduce the number of critical errors and risky actions committed when treating an Ebola patient. The MUSC team plans to run the programme in other healthcare settings relevant to Ebola, including community hospitals, where Ebola patients might first be seen, or intermediary hospitals, which would care for them until they could be sent to a treatment centre like MUSC. “Instituting this training at various universities and hospitals across the world will take time and adjustments,” said Dr Jerry G. Reves, distinguished Professor and Emeritus Dean of the College of Medicine at MUSC. “However, this represents the beginning of a concrete way to ensure that healthcare workers are protected from Ebola with just-intime training anywhere in the world.”

Yellow fever outbreaks Recent disease outbreak news from the World Health Organization highlights that, in Brazil, it is currently the seasonal period for yellow fever and that further transmission of the disease is expected in the coming months based on seasonal patterns.

The viral disease is spread by infected mosquitoes and can cause an illness that leads to jaundice and bleeding. In those who develop severe disease, the death rate is high. Infection can be prevented with the practice of meticulous mosquito bite avoidance and vaccination.

WHO said that from December 2018 to January 2019, 36 confirmed human cases, including eight deaths, were reported in 11 municipalities of two states of Brazil. It also said that as of 29 September 2018, preliminary results of the mass vaccination campaign against yellow fever indicate that 13.3 million people in São Paulo, 6.5 million in Rio de Janeiro, and 1.85 million in Bahía states were vaccinated, which represents vaccination coverage of 53.6 per cent, 55.6 per cent and 55.0 per cent, respectively.

WHO said that it is continuing to monitor the epidemiological situation and review the risk assessment based on the latest available information. It said that currently, based on

available information, it assesses the overall risk as high at the national level, moderate at the regional level, and low at the global level.

Advice to travellers is to be aware of the signs and symptoms of yellow fever and for anyone experiencing symptoms to seek healthcare quickly. WHO advised that international travellers above nine months of age going to Brazil should be vaccinated.

Nigeria Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 1 Travel Alert (Practise Usual Precautions) in response to an ongoing outbreak of yellow fever in Nigeria. The disease is caused by the yellow fever virus and is spread by the bite of infected female mosquitos. Symptoms tend to develop around three to six days after being infected and include: a high temperature, headache, feeling sick or vomiting, muscle pain and backache, sensitivity to light and loss of appetite. More serious symptoms can include yellowing of the skin and eyes, bleeding from the mouth, nose and eyes and vomiting blood or blood in stools, and the disease can be fatal.

The alert explains that a large outbreak of the disease began in Nigeria in September

2017 and has now spread throughout the country. According to the CDC, by the end of November 2018: 14 states had reported more than 55 laboratory-confirmed cases of yellow fever, all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory had reported more than 3,500 suspected cases and a number of deaths, and Edo State had reported a large number of suspected cases, several of which had been laboratory-confirmed as yellow fever.

Travellers to Nigeria are advised to receive vaccination against yellow fever at least

10 days before travel and to take steps to prevent mosquito bites while there.

Precautions against mosquito bites that can be taken include: covering legs and arms with long sleeves and trousers, sleeping under a mosquito net, avoiding standing in water that may breed mosquitos, and using Environmental Protection Agencyregistered insect repellents. The alert states that people who have never been vaccinated against yellow fever should avoid travel to Nigeria during the outbreak.

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SANTO DOMINGO

ITIC REVIEW

REVIEW 2019 Held in the beautiful surroundings of the El Embajador Hotel, ITIC Santo Domingo brought together leading industry figures from across the travel and health insurance spectrum on 24-26 February. Expert speakers from North, Central and South America shared their insights and experience with the gathered audience, providing an excellent platform for the exchange of information and an opportunity to learn from one another.

With thanks to our ITIC Americas 2019 sponsors

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ITIC REVIEW

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A

fter a busy networking breakfast, ITIC Americas 2019 began with an address from Alejandro Cambiaso, President and Founder of the Dominican Republic Health Tourism Association, who shared with the audience his insights into the inner workings of the local healthcare system.

He shared statistics and data showing the number of public and private facilities on the island, as well as the funding system that forms the backbone of healthcare provision.

Medical tourism, said Alejandro, is becoming more important for private health service providers, most of whom are in the process of gaining international accreditation. An overview of some of the top hospitals on the island serving international patients highlighted the different specialities available, which include cardiovascular care and oncology; however, dental treatments, general and plastic surgery are currently the most popular treatments for medical tourists. During the discussion

During the discussion, an audience member asked about why medical records are worth so much, to which Dale explained that each record is worth around US$70 and, on the dark web, that information can be sold and then used for loans and credit cards multiple times – it’s not the medical information that’s valuable, it’s the administrative info.

Following Dale’s (slightly terrifying) presentation, we moved on to the more sedate topic of travel insurance regulation in the US.

Greg Mitchell of Frost Todd Brown LLC gave attendees an overview of the different regulations affecting the sale of travel cover, including the Limited Lines Travel Insurance Model Act, which has

following Alejandro’s presentation, the fact that medical tourism has pushed forward the development of medical services in general on the island was emphasised – as the public healthcare system lacks the resources to cater to tourists, private providers catering to international patients are considered the best place for tourists to go. There is an upcoming move towards the development of urgent care centres on the island, which will help to treat tourists needing emergency care.

"Medical tourism is becoming more important for private health service providers"

more as they have more members using their services, and while there are savings to be made, perhaps the cost difference isn’t as significant as it could be. Cai’s presentation focused on medical spending from AXA’s point of view, identifying where in the world is currently more expensive for a traveller to become sick. Examples of how technology advancements can affect costs in different ways, he pointed out that ECMO patients used to cost a huge amount of money as they spent a lot of time in the ICU in recovery, but now these patients can be flown on air ambulances, they can be repatriated, and costs contained. The same is not

"For hackers, medical records are extremely valuable in significant numbers" been widely accepted. There are, he said, a number of ongoing regulatory challenges, including differing opinions as to how definitions and provisions of model acts and regulatory settlement agreements should be implemented; licensing; bundling of insurance products; mandatory coverage; and the definition of assistance services.

The positive and negative effects of advances in medical technology was the next topic under the ITIC microscope, with contributions from Eduardo Cruz of Humano Seguros, Arturo AcevesSerrano of Philadelphia International Medicine, and Dr Cai Glushak from AXA Partners. Diagnosis and treatment have

Dale Buckner, President and CEO of Global Guardian, focused on the issue of data securityin communications. Medical records have a financial value, said Dale, and for hackers, medical records are extremely valuable in significant numbers.

The problem, he explained, is that ‘every single thing you do now is trackable – if you have a cellphone in your pocket, or a laptop, depending on how you connect to wi-fi, you both been revolutionised by the application of telemedicine services, whether this is applied through online consultations or wearable technology, according to Arturo. However, there are challenges that need to be overcome in order to ensure telemedical service availability – these include legal, protection, privacy and access to internet connections.

are making your information and that of your company accessible to hackers’. With 90 per cent of companies’ cyber budgets being dedicated to defending systems, Dale said that this has to change, and more money needs to be invested in training the end user to navigate the internet more securely before systems will become more secure.

not utilisation rates could increase as a result of telemedicine services, which would actually mean insurers would spend

true, however, for all procedures, and sometimes technology moves so quickly that there isn’t time for enough research to show that clinical outcomes are being improved through the use of technology.

"ECMO patients used to cost a huge amount of money as they spent a lot of time in the ICU in recovery" Eduardo said that technological progress has improved health outcomes, but has not lowered costs. The cost of healthcare will only ever increase, and Eduardo’s presentation considered what is driving these cost increases, one of which is the development of technology – and this applies to wearables, drug development and 3D printed devices. The advent of the Internet of Everything has taken over from the Internet of Things, and the application of this to healthcare information gathering and feedback to users and insurers could be very valuable. “Biology,” he concluded, “is going to be the new software.”

The next session focused on traveller security and other risks in South and Central America. Andres Zahnd, Special Projects Manager of Universal

"Diagnosis and treatment have both been revolutionised by the application of telemedicine services" Agreeing that telemedicine has the potential to improve care and access to medical services, Cai asked whether or

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Assistance, pointed out that while perception of the risks to travellers in South and Central America focuses on security issues, actually around 90 per cent of assistance cases handled by the company are medical in nature.

Andres followed up with a detailed examination of medical claims costs in Latin America, considering the causes of claims, and what insurers

"While perception of the risks to travellers in South and Central America focuses on security, around 90 per cent of assistance cases handled by Universal Assistance are medical" can subsequently do to educate their clients and minimise the risks to which they are exposed during their travels.

Andres’ presentation also explained the detail of a case that started as a security issue and resulted in becoming a complex medical assistance case, which emphasised the importance of utilising knowledgable local providers to ensure the best use of resources available.

Developing the topic further was Augustin Freitas from Ed Broking Miami Inc., who said that there were over 111 million travellers inbound to Latin America in 2017, the vast majority of whom (40 million) went to Mexico. Natural disasters, he pointed out, are common in these areas, and in fact most countries to which travellers are heading are exposed to a heightened risk of hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanos.

Andres’ data showed the typical medical expenses limits of policies the company sells, and also the policies that people are buying, which showed that most policies sold had a limit of around US$50,000. The problems facing the

"There were over 111 million travellers inbound to Latin America in 2017, the vast majority of whom went to Mexico" industry, then, are low sum insured plans, no (or limited) natural disaster coverage, and an inefficient reimbursement process.

Solutions on the table include product development, telemedicine services and enhanced underwriting to cover natural disasters and pre-existing conditions.

Bruce McIndoe, President and Founder of WorldAware, then took to the stage to point out that risk maps are very general, and you have to dig deeper into a country’s dynamic to recognise what is driving the risks to travellers. Once more, it comes down to perception – while much is made of kidnap risks in South America, in actual fact, the reality remains that the biggest risk to travellers is road accidents.

Threat assessments, said Bruce, need to be detail specific – it is only by making geographically specific information available to travellers that they can be informed and err on the side of caution, avoiding areas that may pose a heightened risk. Bruce concluded his presentation by giving attendees threat assessments of various Central and South American destinations such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and Colombia.

SANTO DOMINGO

ITIC REVIEW

WELCOME RECEPTION

sponsored by

The 2019 ITIC Americas Welcome Reception, sponsored by New Frontier Group, took place in the beautiful and historic Quinta Dominica cultural centre, which was built at the beginning of the 16th Century as part of a monastery. ITIC attendees enjoyed canapés, a barbeque, drinks and music while networking with colleagues to build their business partnership opportunities

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SANTO DOMINGO

allow patients to go to a higher level of care.

By sharing details of case studies involving medical evacuations, Dr Ladak highlighted these issues, and how they can adversely affect patient outcomes and thus underline the need for prompt medical evacuation from certain places, especially when patients are suffering from certain conditions that depend upon immediate high quality treatment.

The second day of ITIC Americas began with a panel session on treatment and evacuation options in the Caribbean, with contributions from Gonzalo Castillo Lopez from Helidosa, Dr Ferial Ladak, Medical Director of Global Excel Management, and Dr Frank Gillingham, Chief Medical Officer of GeoBlue, who was first on stage.

Dr Gillingham discussed the reasons behind a medical evacuation, detailed the tiers of assessment that GeoBlue uses to make a decision on whether or not an evacuation is necessary, and listed the typical conditions from which patients are suffering that result in a medical evacuation, as well as the conditions that wouldn’t necessitate a medevac. Moving on, he then explained how he chooses his partner medical providers and air ambulance partners, and shared information about how GeoBlue rates the care provided in different Caribbean nations, with details about the islands from which the company always evacuates members.

The value that local assistance companies can provide was a topic of discussion

Gonzalo’s presentation focused on the importance of communication between payers and providers of air ambulance services, with prompt notification from the insurer that an evacuation is necessary, keeping in mind limitations such as local regulations and typical airport operating hours. Transparency in communication is key, he said, and this is not always the case for insurers – an inability to share information with an air ambulance operator can result in delays in service.

Gonazalo also detailed the key attributes that air ambulance providers should offer to clients, with safety being the primary consideration.

"Transparency in communication is key … and this is not always the case for insurers" The mid-morning session focused on the challenges insurers and assistance companies face during the Atlantic hurricane season. These include staffing issues in local hospitals just before a storm hits (staff will leave the island), and then afterwards the possible damage to infrastructure that makes communication with treating facilities difficult, said Eugene Delaune from Europ Assistance. Sourcing an air ambulance

During a storm, hospitals that are in the path of the hurricane can typically expect power outages that could last for several days, the biggest implication of which is an inability to communicate with international insurers.

Following a hurricane, a hospital must make an assessment of readiness to fully open or partially open should the building have sustained damage. International insurers and assistance companies may not be aware,

international insurance audience.

Eric’s presentation focused on the cost of providing cutting-edge care; Baptist seeks to ‘employ the optimal modality of care for every cancer patient’, and this care, such as proton beam therapy, does come at a significant cost.

The fact that certain hospitals can provide such treatment, while others can’t, inevitably results in variations in costs and charges to patients and their insurers.

Raija focused on the reasons behind the differences in the cost of care in different regions of the US and assessed the ways in

"The continuously rising cost of healthcare provides a key challenge for those settling and negotiating hospital charges" but in a federally declared emergency, FEMA takes control of the airspace, making flights in or out extremely difficult, if not impossible.

What hospitals need is understanding from their insurance partners that communication might not always be possible during an emergency, and flexibility is key in such a situation.

"Following a hurricane, a hospital must make an assessment of readiness to fully open or partially open should the building have sustained damage" The final session of ITIC Americas featured presentations from independent consultant Julie Remmington, Raija Itzchaki of GMMI and Eric Shatanof from Baptist Health South Florida,

which payers and providers are attempting to ensure fair prices for all, regardless of location. “The continuously rising cost of healthcare provides a key challenge for those settling and negotiating hospital charges,” said Raija, “but there are key tools that enable reasonable prices to be set.”

She then shared some real-life cases with the audience, demonstrating how charges can be limited and costs controlled.

Julie explained how the huge differences that exist for the same treatments by hospitals across the US present challenges for European insurance providers.

In the first place, the risk is difficult to rate, and the lack of direct agreements with hospitals, combined with little or no chance to direct patients to a pre-selected facility, means that the chance of containing costs for international patients is slim. There are key differences, said Julie, in what hospitals want versus what travel insurers want, and these

"There are key differences in what hospitals want versus what travel insurers want, and these conflicts don’t always make for easy relationships"

after Dr Gillingham’s presentation, with opinion divided as to whether or not a local company’s loyalty in a questionable medevac situation would be towards the local healthcare provider, which wants to keep treating the patient, or towards the insurer that is paying for care and is seeking an evacuation for their client.

company just before a hurricane can also become extremely troublesome, as hospitals will pre-emptively evacuate their patients, and this is when having established agreements with local providers means an insurer can be less affected by the drop in provision.

"would a local company’s loyalty in a questionable medevac situation be towards the local healthcare provider or towards the insurer?"

who all spoke on the topic of regional cost variations in the US, where the disparities in cost between east, west and central states is very relevant to the

conflicts and a lack of transparency don’t always make for easy relationships.

Julie concluded by offering some solutions to these issues that international payers are facing with high medical costs in the US for insured patients.

"Sourcing an air ambulance company just before a hurricane can become extremely troublesome"

Dr Ladak’s presentation detailed the challenges faced by international insurers with clients needing medical care in the Caribbean, which include a misrepresentation of abilities, a lack of quality medical information, a focus on insurance coverage (patients not being treated until coverage is confirmed) and a refusal to

Abbe Bendell, Vice-President of International Services at Broward Health International, focused on the issue of hospital preparedness during the hurricane season, which is a constant process of ensuring adequate provisions are in place should the facility take a direct hit from a storm. As a hurricane approaches, a hospital will consider whether or not patients should be moved to a place of safety. Abbe highlighted certain other issues that insurers should be aware of, which include determining when a hospital will stop accepting patients and which international patients (and their families) can be moved to a hotel or flown home.

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SANTO DOMINGO

ITIC REVIEW

NETWORKING AT ITIC SANTO DOMINGO ITIC always provides unparalleled opportunities for networking with business peers from across all sectors of the industry. From networking breakfasts and lunches to walking tours and table-top exhibitors, ITIC Americas Santo Domingo was no exception and offered plenty of opportunity to meet potential new business partners and catch up with existing clients and friends. The Farewell Dinner rounded off the conference for another year, with attendees given the chance to sample the tastes and sounds of the Dominican Republic as they enjoyed traditional cuisine, a full open bar, and the best party band in town!

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ON THE MOVE

Berna Gür joins Marm Assistance Marm Assistance has announced the recruitment of Berna Gür as its Medical Network Manager in Turkey. Berna joins Marm Assistance from Acıbadem Healthcare Group, where she served as International Insurance and Assistance Companies’ Supervisor for six years.

Prior to Acıbadem, she worked in the hospital operations and aviation sectors.

She brings more than 10 years of health services and health financing experience as well as expertise in international patient

services and international healthcare networking from her previous positions.

In this position, Berna will focus on the development and maintenance of Marm’s medical service provider network in Turkey. With her experience of international relations and skills in negotiation, client and vendor management in the hospital and healthcare industry, Marm Assistance hopes to establish an even stronger bridge between the global insurance companies and service providers in Turkey.

Allianz Partners announces new General Manager Elena Edwards recently joined Allianz Partners as General Manager. She will be responsible for providing executive leadership on strategy, prioritisation and execution for the company’s partnerfacing US travel insurance business.

Elena brings nearly 18 years of executive experience in insurance from her previous roles at Genworth Financial. Most recently, she served as business leader of Genworth’s long-term care closed block insurance business in Richmond.

As an experienced executive who has held leadership positions in various GE businesses, she has a deep understanding of how to lead organisations through change, according to Allianz. This

experience will be well utilised as the company moves to an agile environment to meet the changing needs of its business and its continued rapid growth.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Elena as a fantastic addition to our talented leadership team. Her proven expertise in business operations and processes will enable us to be even more nimble in providing world-class service to our partners and customers,” said Mike Nelson, CEO of global travel insurance and the Americas, Allianz Partners.

“This furthers our advantages of being more agile, innovative, and customerfocused in an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing industry.”

RMS Appoints Oliver Nieswandt as Managing Director of Continental Europe

Risk modelling and analytics firm RMS has announced the appointment of Oliver Nieswandt as Managing Director of Continental Europe. He will be based in the RMS Zurich office.

Oliver started his career at Hannover Re, where he developed systems for catastrophe risk accumulation, reinsurance treaty administration and underwriting. This was followed by a successful career at SAP where his roles included Global Client Director for Allianz and Munich Re, Client Executive, and manager of custom development projects.

Oliver also held roles at HCL AXON (as the DACH Insurance Practice leader)

ITIJ SelectCare 0918.indd 1

and Dell (where he led BFSI for DACH).

He will replace Christer Pehrson, who is completing his assignment in Europe and, after a handover period, will be returning to the US. “I am excited to have Oliver joining the RMS team as he brings a wealth of experience in insurance, software, and services to our business,” said Neil Isford, Executive Vice-President of RMS. “Oliver is viewed by his former managers, employees, and customers as an excellent collaborator who is very focused on developing and supporting his team, as well as being a strong advocate for his clients.”

Collinson appoints new global medical director Global medical and security assistance provider Collinson has appointed Dr Simon Worrell to the position of Global Medical Director to lead its medical services department.

Simon has over 20 years of experience in the delivery of international medical assistance and emergency care, and also brings significant specialist expertise in immunology and communicable diseases, according to Collinson. He joins from Healix.

In his new role, Simon will lead Collinson’s medical team and provide advice on medical issues, including pandemics such as Ebola and Zika, helping to keep travellers and expatriates safe as they work and holiday internationally.

Simon spent eight years at Healix as Deputy Chief Medical Officer, having led its medical intelligence and publication

efforts, and pioneered e-learning courses in communicable and infectious disease management. He also worked in UK National Health Service hospitals for nine years, specialising in the management of communicable diseases.

His expertise, it is hoped, will strengthen the medical elements of Collinson’s travel risk management solution such as pre-travel disease and vaccination briefings and emergency evacuations.

“I’m truly delighted to join Collinson,” said Simon. “Its ability to provide travellers and expatriates with what they need to be happy, safe and prepared for working and holidaying abroad, is unique in the marketplace. I’m looking forward to bolstering our existing global assistance capacity and footprint by expanding the medical team and promoting Collinson as the go-to firm for medical assistance.”

Dr Simon Worrell

Medical director appointment at Airlec

Dr Cyrille Montesinos

Airlec Ambulance, based in France, has appointed Dr Cyrille Montesinos as its new Medical Director. Dr Montesinos has been on the front line of medical delivery through his work with Airlec Medical and has solid experience in the delivery of emergency care as Head of Unit within the SAMU-SAU (French emergency services).

He also worked as a specialist in West Africa in the heart of the Ebola epidemic.

Dr Montesinos takes over from Dr Hamida Chaouky and will be in charge of medical regulation and the management of Airlec Ambulance’s physicians and nursing teams.

He will work in close collaboration with Dr Yann Rouaud, Group Medical Director.

New Global Head of Accident & Health for AIG

Edward Levin

34

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) recently announced the appointment of Edward Levin as Global Head of Accident & Health, General Insurance. He will report to Christopher Townsend, CEO of AIG International General Insurance, and will be based in London, UK. In this new role, Edward will be responsible for the global A&H portfolio, including distribution and underwriting strategy.

He will develop a global A&H strategy, identify growth opportunities and create a diverse distribution pipeline.

He joins AIG from Chubb, where he served in senior roles including Division President of International A&H and, most recently, Group Digital Business Officer. Previously

he spent four years at ACE Europe as Executive Vice-President of A&H, Life and Personal Lines. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Citigroup and Booz Allen Hamilton.

“Edward’s deep understanding of the A&H business and his experience in building out digital platforms and products will add value as we develop next generation digital capabilities for AIG,” said Christopher.

“I am pleased to welcome Edward to AIG as we position our A&H business for growth in an evolving industry.”

Edward commented: “I’m looking forward to joining AIG to build a marketleading A&H business. AIG has a strong heritage of product innovation and distribution leadership in this area.”

2018-09-25 7:22 PM

SERVICE DIRECTORY

35

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

SERVICE DIRECTORY

Ace Air & Ambulance (Pvt) Ltd. James Halsted, – Managing Director 2 Mount Road, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe +263 (4) 302 141 +263 (782) 999 901/2/3/4

tel: tel:

james@ace-ambulance.com www.ace-ambulance.com

email: website:

AMREF Flying Doctors Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director

AIR AMBULANCE (ASIA-PACIFIC)

AIR AMBULANCE (AFRICA)

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

EMA Global Pte Ltd Jay Bajas – Senior Manager - Operations Unit 2314 Centuria Medical Makati, Century City, Kalayaan Ave. cor.

Salamanca St. Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City - 1210, PHILIPPINES 24hr tel: fax:

+254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170

email: website:

jay@emaglobal.com.ph www.emaglobal.com.sg

Prithpal Singh – CEO , Director A’Posh Bizhub, 1 Yishun Industrial St 1, #08-03, SINGAPORE, 768160 +65 6483 5412 +65 6734 1338

tel: fax:

emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org

prithpal@flyingdoctorsasia.com www.flyingdoctorsasia.com

email: website:

Latitude Air Ambulance

Awesome Air Evac

Diana Iaquinto – Director Sales & Medical Ops

Shane Marais – General Manager

John C. Munro/Hamilton International Airport,9300 Airport Rd. Mount Hope. Ontario, L0R 1W0, CANADA tel: +1 289 426 1133 email: 24.7@latitude2009.com fax: +1 289 426 1132 website: www.latitude2009.com

Hanger 104C, Gate C, Lanseria Airport, Lanseria, SOUTH AFRICA +27 11 430 1777

tel:

email: website:

rescue@awesomeairevac.com www.awesomeairevac.com

LifeFlight

ER24 24/7 Flight Desk

Peter Elliott – Fixed Wing Operations Manager

Cambridge Manor Office Park, Manor 1, Stone Haven Road, C/o Witkoppen & Stone Haven Roads, Sandton, Paulshof, SOUTH AFRICA tel: +27 (0) 10 205 3100 email: flight@er24.co.za fax: +27 (0) 866 781 507 website: www.er24.co.za

PO Box 15166, City East, QLD 4002, AUSTRALIA 24/7 (int) tel: fax:

+61 7 5553 5955 +61 7 5553 5965

ops@lifeflight.org.au www.LifeFlight.org.au

email: website:

Medic’Air International 每递安国际

Flying Doctors Nigeria Dr Ola Brown – Founder

Dr Li Tao – Medical Director

2nd Floor Quits Aviation Centre, Hangar 1 Along Gate 1, Muritala Muhammad International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, NIGERIA tel: +234 703 509 7761 email: sales@flyingdoctorsnigeria.com tel: +234 706 920 1299 website: www.flyingdoctorsnigeria.com

885 Renmin Road, Huaihai China Building, Room 808, 200010 Shanghai, CHINA tel: fax:

Medic’Air International

operations@medic-air.com www.medic-air.com

email: website:

Dr.Sura Jaidwatee, M.D. – Medical Flight Manager 222 Don Mueang International Airport Office Building 3rd Floor, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Sanambin, Don Mueang, Bangkok 10210, THAILAND 24h tel: +662 247 3392 email: m.w@medicalwings.com fax: +662 535 4734 website: www.medicalwings.com

Dar El Bacha - Tizougarine 5, 40000 Marrakech Medina, MOROCCO email: website:

operations@medic-air.com www.medic-air.com

(EUROPE)

+212 5 24 38 13 88 +212 524 428 436

tel: fax:

+86 2163 558289 +86 2163 558285

Medical Wings

Dr Jean-Philippe MATTEI – Medical Director

(ASIA-PACIFIC)

email: website:

Flying Doctors Asia

Wilson Airport, LangataRoad, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA tel: fax:

+63 (02) 555 5228 +63 (02) 863 0650

AirMed Australia Matthew Kline & Mark Wardrop – Executive Directors Hangar 650 Drover Road, Bankstown Airport. NSW, Sydney, AUSTRALIA 2200 tel: +61 2 8700 0685 email: ops@airmed.com.au fax: +61 2 8700 0663 website: www.airmed.com.au

Air Alliance Medflight GmbH Eva Kluge – Director of Sales & Business Development SIEGERLAND AIRPORT, Werfthalle G1, 57299 Burbach, GERMANY mob: 24/7 tel:

+49 170 366 4933 +49 2736 4428 45

email: website:

e.kluge@air-alliance.de www.air-alliance.de

AIRLEC Air Espace

Alia MedFlight Scott Everson – Vice President

Paul Tiba – Managing Director

9382 E Bahia Drive, Suite B202, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, USA

Zone Aviation Générale, 33700 Mérignac Cidex 05 FRANCE

tel: fax:

602-800-7070 855-831-5092

email: website:

24Hr tel: fax:

ops@aliamedflight.com www.aliamedflight.com

+335 56 34 02 14 +335 56 55 98 18

email: website:

paul.tiba@airlecairespace.com www.airlecairespace.com

Capital Air Ambulance

Asia Air Ambulance Mr. Toranit Sripal – Managing Director

Lisa Humphries – Sales Director

Asia Air Ambulance Co. Ltd., Bangkok599/59 Ratchadaphisek Road, Jatujak, Bangkok 10900, THAILAND tel: +66 898 969 000 email: operations@asiaairambulance.com fax: +66 219 218 01 website: www.asiaairambulance.com

Airport House, Exeter International Airport, EX5 2BD, UK tel: fax:

+44 845 055 2828 +44 1392 350 039

email: website:

sales@capitalairambulance.co.uk www.capitalairambulance.co.uk

CareJet Anthony Decoste – President & CEO Level 24 Robinsons Cyberscape Beta, Topaz & Ruby Roads, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City, PHILIPPINES email: ops@carejet.com tel: +63 2 226 6911 website: carejet.com

To have your company listed in our service directory, contact the sales department now:

EDS AVIATION PTE LTD Shik – Managing Director 33 Ubi Avenue, #08-13, Vertex Tower B, SINGAPORE, 408868 +65 9836 3265 +65 6846 9542

tel: fax:

email: website:

sales@itij.com

info@eds-aviation.com www.eds-aviation.com

EMA Global Pte Ltd

+44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

Dexter Tan – Business Development Director 1 Farrer Park Station Road, #15-18, Farrer Park Medical Centre, SINGAPORE 217562 tel:

+65 6570 2552 +65 6244 0030

email: website:

dexter@emaglobal.com.sg www.emaglobal.com.sg

36

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

Mr Nick Simon – Business Development Manager Funtington Park, Funtington, Chichester, UK, PO18 8RG, UK tel: fax:

+ 44 (0) 1243 621 107 + (0) 1243 621 006

email: website:

privaterepats@cegagroup.com cegagroup.com

DRF Luftrettung / German Air Rescue Dr. Peter Huber – CEO

German Air Rescue – Claim-Variante rot / schwarz

Rita-Maiburg-Str. 2, D-70794 Filderstadt, GERMANY 24h tel: fax:

+49 711 7007 3010 +49 711 7007 3119

email: website:

ops@drf-luftrettung.de www.drf-luftrettung.de/air-ambulance

DRK Assistance Andreas Speich – Managing Director Aufm Hennekamp 71, 40225 Düsseldorf, GERMANY +49 211 301 805-0 +49 211 301 805-21

tel: fax:

Manfred Helldoppler – Managing Director Fuerstenweg 180, A-6026 Innsbruck-Airport, AUSTRIA

AC

Milan Floribus – Vice President

GLOBAL

8775 Aero Drive, Suite 120, San Diego, CA 92123, USA R

+1 858 437 5131 +1 858 408 7856

tel: fax:

AMBULAN

email: website:

acglobalmedicaltransports@gmail.com acglobalmedicaltransports.com

Aeromedevac Air Ambulance Adam Williams – President Gillespie Field Airport, 681 Kenney Street, El Cajon, CA 92020, USA +(800) 462 0911 +(619) 284 7918

toll free: fax:

email: website:

awilliams@aeromedevac.com www.aeromedevac.com

AirEvac International

European Air Ambulance Patrick Schomaker – Director Sales & Marketing

Raul Mendoza – President / CEO

Luxembourg Airport, B.P.24, L-5201, Sandweiler, LUXEMBOURG

3404 Bonita Rd, Chula Vista, Ca. 91910, USA

+352 26 26 00 +352 26 26 01

24hr tel: fax:

taa@taa.at www.taa.at

email: website:

AC Global Air Ambulance

moc@drkassistance.com www.drkassistance.com

email: website:

+43 512 22422 100 +43 512 288 888

tel: fax:

AI

German Air Rescue

Tyrol Air Ambulance

CE

CEGA Group

AIR AMBULANCE (NORTH AMERICA) ( EUROPE)

AIR AMBULANCE (EUROPE)

SERVICE DIRECTORY

+1 619 754-6755 +1 619 330 4551

tel: fax:

alert@air-ambulance.com www.air-ambulance.com

email: website:

email: website:

info@aeiamericas.com www.aeiamericas.com

Alia MedFlight

FAI – rent-a-jet AG Volker Lemke – Director Sales and Marketing CSO

Scott Everson – Vice President

Flughafenstasse. 124; 90411 Nuremberg; GERMANY

9382 E Bahia Drive, Suite B202, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, USA

tel: fax:

+49 911 36009 31 +49 911 36009 59

email: website:

602-800-7070 855-831-5092

tel: fax:

Volker.lemke@fai.ag www.fai.ag

email: website:

ops@aliamedflight.com www.aliamedflight.com

CEGA Group

Jet Executive International Charter Irena Dimitrijevic – Marketing & Sales

Mr Nick Simon – Business Development Manager

Mündelheimer Weg 50, D-40472, Düsseldorf, GERMANY “Homebase FRA & MUC” tel: +49 211 602 7775 email: sales@jetexecutive.com fax: +49 211 602 77766 website: www.jetexecutive.com

Funtington Park, Funtington, Chichester, UK, PO18 8RG, UK + 44 (0) 1243 621 107 + (0) 1243 621 006

tel: fax:

email: website:

privaterepats@cegagroup.com cegagroup.com

Global Jetcare, Inc.

JOIN JET Carsten Vistisen – General Manager

Bart Gray – President

Cumulusvej 10, 7190 Billund, DENMARK

15421 Technology Dr. Brooksville, FL 34604, USA

24hr tel: fax:

+45 701 040 90 +45 701 040 90

email: website:

tel: fax:

ems@joinjet.com www.joinjet.com

+1 352 799 7771 +1 352 799 7776

email: website:

JET ICU

Malteser Service Center Johannes Hoischen – International Network and Repatriation

Mike Honeycutt – President

Erna-Scheffler-Strasse 2, 51103 Köln, GERMANY

2561 Rescue Way, Brooksville, FL 34604, USA

tel: fax:

+49 221 98 22 9333 +49 40 694597 61339

bart@globaljetcare.com www.globaljetcare.com

email: website:

tel: fax:

ambulance@malteser.org www.malteser-service-center.de

+1 352 796 2540 +1 352 796 2549

email: website:

ops@jeticu.com www.jeticu.com

Jet-Rescue Air Ambulance

Medic’Air International Dr Herve Raffin – General Manager

Carlos Salinas – CEO

35 rue Jules Ferry, 93170 Bagnolet, Paris, FRANCE

Suite 100, 7777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida 33434, USA

tel: fax:

+33 141 72 1414 +33 148 57 1010

email: website:

tel:

operations@medic-air.com www.medic-air.com

+1 786 619 1268

email: website:

operations@jet-rescue.com www.medjetsUSA.com

Latitude Air Ambulance

North Flying a/s

Diana Iaquinto – Director Sales & Medical Ops

Jesper Kragelund – Sales Manager

John C. Munro/Hamilton International Airport,9300 Airport Rd. Mount Hope. Ontario, L0R 1W0, CANADA tel: +1 289 426 1133 email: 24.7@latitude2009.com fax: +1 289 426 1132 website: www.latitude2009.com

North Flying Terminal, Aalborg Airport, DK-9400, Nørresundby, DENMARK tel: +45 9632 2900 email: jkr@northflying.com website: www.northflying.com fax: +45 9632 2909

Skyservice Air Ambulance

Quick Air Jet Charter GmbH

David Ewing – Executive Vice-President, Global Markets

Philipp Schneider – Account Manager

Montreal/PE Trudeau Int Airport, 9785 Avenue Ryan, Montreal (Quebec), H9P 1A2, CANADA tel: +1 514 497 7000 email: alert@skyservice.com fax: +1 514 636 0096 website: www.skyserviceairambulance.com

Hangar 3, Cologne Airport, 51147 Cologne, GERMANY tel: fax:

+49 2203 955 700 +49 2203 955 7020

email: website:

ops@quickair.de www.quickair.de

Swiss Air-Rescue (Rega)

To have your company listed in our service directory

Stefan Becker – Head of Corporate Development

contact the sales department now:

Rega-Center, PO Box 1414, CH-8058 Zurich, SWITZERLAND tel: fax:

+41 44 654 33 11 +41 44 654 33 22

email: website:

sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

stefan.becker@rega.ch www.rega.ch

37

SERVICE DIRECTORY

AIMS Bernadette Breton – Chief Executive Officer AIMS House, 3 West St, Bryanston 2191, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA tel: +27 11 783 0135 email: operations@aims.org.za fax: +27 11 783 2950 website: www.aims.org.za

AMREF Flying Doctors Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director Wilson Airport, Langata Road, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA tel: fax:

+254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170

emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org

email: website:

ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (ASIA-PACIFIC)

ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (AFRICA)

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

Covermore Assistance Online Wilson Chan – CEO 7/F Unit 702, 58 Changliu Road, Zendai Cube Edifice, Pudong, Shanghai, CHINA 200135 tel: +86 21 12591222 email: ops-shanghai@covermore.com.cn website: www.covermore.com.cn

1 Farrer Park Station Road, #15-18, Farrer Park Medical Centre, SINGAPORE 217562

Office 11, Floor 1, 6 El Sad El Aali st, Dokki, Cairo, EGYPT +202 3 336 0005 +202 3 762 0003

alarm@connexassistance.com www.connexassistance.com

email: website:

email: website:

+65 6570 2552 +65 6244 0030

tel:

dexter@emaglobal.com.sg www.emaglobal.com.sg

EMA Global Pte Ltd

Inter Secours Assistance

Jay Bajas – Senior Manager - Operations

Mr. EL MOUADDEN Abdelhamid – Directeur Général 8, Rue Grasset, Quartier des hôpitaux, CP 20360,Casablanca, MOROCCO tel: +212 5 22 46 72 22 fax: +212 5 22 26 00 27

(ASIA-PACIFIC)

Level 24 Robinsons Cyberscape Beta, Topaz & Ruby Roads, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City, PHILIPPINES email: ops@carejet.com tel: +63 2 226 6911 website: carejet.com

Dexter Tan – Business Development Director

Dr Helmy El Tanahy – CEO

Unit 2314 Centuria Medical Makati, Century City, Kalayaan Ave. cor.

Salamanca St. Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City - 1210, PHILIPPINES 24hr tel: fax:

mouaden@isas.ma www.isas.ma

email: website:

email: website:

+63 (02) 555 5228 +63 (02) 863 0650

jay@emaglobal.com.ph www.emaglobal.com.sg

Emergency Assistance Japan

AA International Indonesia

Takaaki Chiyo – Executive Officer, Head of Network Division

Brandon Heng – CEO

NRK Koishikawa Bldg., 1-21-14 Koishikawa, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0002, JAPAN

Tifa Building, 10th Floor, No.1003, Jl. Kuningan Barat 1 No. 26, Mampang Prapatan, Jakarta 12710, INDONESIA tel: 24/7:

Anthony Decoste – President

EMA Global Pte Ltd

CONNEX Assistance

tel: fax:

CareJet

email: website:

+62 21 2927 9600 ops-jakarta@aa-international.co.id

tel: fax:

marketing@aa-international.co.id www.aa-international.co.id

+81-(0)3-3811-7520 +81-(0)3-3811-7511

email: website:

network@emergency.co.jp emergency.co.jp/english

Global Assistance & Healthcare

AIG Travel

Alain Durand – President Director

Martin Villarino – General Manager, AIG Travel Asia Pacific

Cibis Nine, 5th Fl, Jalan TB. Simatupang No. 2, Cilandak – Pasar Minggu, Jakarta 12560, INDONESIA tel: +62 21 299 78 999 email: global@global-assistance.net fax: +62 21 299 78 9555/66 website: www.global-assistance.net

Level 15 Menara Worldwide, 198 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA tel: +603 2772 5555 email: martin.villarino@aig.com fax: +603 2685 5673 website: aig.com/travel

Global Assistance Partners Co.,Ltd.

ASIAN TRAVEL AND MEDICAL SERVICES

Gna KH CHUNG – CEO

Rahul Gupta – Sr. Manager - International Business

412 Vabien III, 86, TongIl-ro,Jung-gu, Seoul 04517, REPUBLIC OF KOREA

131/1 , PICNIC GARDEN ROAD , KOLKATA - 700039 , INDIA 0091-9836309173 033-23440170

tel: fax:

email: website:

tel: fax:

rahul.gupta@asiantms.com www.asiantms.com

Unit 808/811, Level 8, No.88, Bai Zi Wan Nan Er Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, P.R.,100022 CHINA tel: +86 10 5815 1188 Ext. 812 email: regina@globaldoctor.com.au fax: +86 10 8775 9138 website: www.globaldoctor.com.au

Flat 2B, Jaivijay Apartment , 61 B Palm Avenue Kolkata – 700019 West Bengal, INDIA email: website:

arms@armsindia.com www.armsindia.com

Global MediCALL Assistance

Alpine Rescue Service Pvt Ltd 'Mission: Save Life'

Sridhar K – Chief Operations Officer

Mr. Ram Nepal – Executive Director Ekikaran Sadak, 16 Kha.2.37, Naya Bazar - 16, Kathmandu, Nepal, POBOX: 21100; NEPAL 24/7 tel: +977 1 436 2652 email: 24/7 fax: +977 1 442 5111 website:

operations@globalassistance.co.kr www.globalassistance.co.kr

Regina Zheng – Operations Manager

Dr.Anraj Singh – Director

+91 983 1090 831 +91 033 4060 4013

email: website:

Global Doctor China

ASIA RESCUE & MEDICAL SERVICES PVT. LTD

24/7 tel: 24/7 tel:

+82 1670 0722 +82 2 720 8839

MALAYSIA tel: fax:

info@alpine-rescue.com www.alpine-rescue.com

+6 03 3359 6969 +6 03 3359 6161

email:

marketing@globalmedicallassistance.com

AP Companies KAZAKHSTAN Elmira Turmagambetova – General Manager

To have your company listed in our service directory, contact the sales department now:

4, 148 Mamir, Auzovskiy region, Almati, KAZAKHSTAN tel:

+ 7 727 350 52 76

email: website:

KZT@ap-companies.com www.ap-companies.com

AP Companies UZBEKISTAN Ilhom Sadikov – Business Development Manager 4a, Uzumzor street, Ulukbek region,Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN tel:

+9 987 123 890 41

email: website:

sales@itij.com

uzb@ap-companies.com www.ap-companies.com

BrightCare Assist

+44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

Gloria Lee Carmen V. Matti – CEO Unit 10-1, Fort Legend Tower, 31st Street corner 3rd Avenue, Bonifacio Global City Taguig, 1632, PHILIPPINES tel: (632) 785-0055 email: ops@brightcare-assist.com fax: (632) 224-4152 website: www.brightcare-assist.com

38

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

MEDIKA PLAZA Dr Nino Susanto – Operational Director Beltway Office Park Tower C 2nd floor Jl. TB Simatupang Kav. 41, Jakarta 12550, INDONESIA tel: +6221 80866000 email: med.assistance@medikaplaza.com website: www.medikaplaza.com

ADAC Ambulance Service Christoph Ullrich – Senior Manager International Network Hansastr. 19, D - 80686 Munich, GERMANY tel: mob:

+49 897 676 29 12 +49 171 555 29 12

email: website:

christoph.ullrich@adac.de www.adac.de/ambulance

ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (EUROPE)

ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (EUROPE) (ASIA-PAC.)

SERVICE DIRECTORY

AIG Travel

Eurocross Turkey Mehtap Baylam Akkaya – CEO Altunizade Mahallesi, Ord. Prof. Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Caddesi, Eşref Çakmak Plaza, No:32 Kat:3 34662 Üsküdar, İstanbul, TURKEY tel: +90 216 265 15 25 email: int@eurocrossturkey.com.tr website: www.eurocrossturkey.com.tr fax: +90 216 265 15 65

Global Assistance a.s.

Ing. Marek Jaroš – General Manager Dopraváku 749/3, 18400 Prague 8, CZECH REPUBLIC tel: fax:

+420 266 799 770 +420 266 799 797

ops@1220.cz www.1220.cz

email: website:

Global Voyager Assistance - Black Sea Sally Waithe – General Manager, AIG Travel EMEA

Oxana Razorenova – General Manager

21 Cecil Pashley Way, Shoreham Airport, Shoreham-By-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 5FF, UK tel: +44 (0)1273 456 484 email: sally.waithe@aig.com website: aig.com/travel

77-79 Nezhinskaya Str., 65023, Odessa, UKRAINE tel: fax:

AP Companies

+38 048 7373 441 +38 048 7373 442

gmbs@gvassistance.com www.gvassistance.com

email: website:

Global Voyager Assistance - Russia Natalya Butakova – Business Development Manager

Costas Danilenko – CEO

17 Varshavskoye Shosse, Moscow 117105, RUSSIA

PO Box II, 125124 Moscow, RUSSIA

tel: fax:

+7 495 989 1120 +7 495 989 1130

natalya@ap-companies.ru www.ap-companies.ru

email: website:

tel: fax:

Argos Assistance Srl

+7 495 775 0999 +7 495 775 0998

email: website:

cdanilenko@gvassistance.com www.gvassistance.com

IFRA Assistance GmbH – Austria

Marco Rinalducci – Claims & Administration Director

Mr. Christian Steindl M.D. – CEO

Via Torino, 2 20123 Milano, ITALY / FRANCE

IFRA Assistance GmbH, Schießstattring 21, A-3100 St. Pölten, AUSTRIA

tel: fax:

+39 027 254 6325 +39 069 933 5053

operations@argosassistance.com www.argosassistance.com

email: website:

tel: fax:

Athens Assistance

+43 (0) 2742 49 11 +43 (0) 27 42 89165

email: website:

office@ifra.at www.ifra.at

Intana Global Denise Groom – Head of Commercial

Dr. Dimitris Koliniatis – CEO

Sussex House, Perrymount Road, Haywards heath, West Sussex, RH16 1DN, UK email: enquiries@intana-global.com website: www.intana-global.com

Bouboulinas 20, TK 185 35, Piraeus, Athens, GREECE tel: fax:

+30 210 4296 631 +30 210 4296 661

email: website:

operations@athensassistance.gr www.athensassistance.gr

AU International Service / ASSIST UKRAINE

Interamerican Assistance S.A.

Andrey ZIMIN – Director

Inez Tissink – Coordinator International Activities

Str. Sholudenko 3, 04116 Kiev, UKRAINE

Syngrou Avenue 350,17680 Kallithea, Athens, GREECE

tel:

+38044 251 28 11

assist@assist-ukraine.com assist-ukraine.com

email: website:

tel: fax:

BMC HEALTH SOLUTIONS 24hr Medical Assistance

(+30) 210 94 61 750 (+30) 210 94 61 004

email: website:

tissinki@interamerican.gr www.interamerican.gr

Malteser Service Center

Antonio Magliocca – Medical Director

Johannes Hoischen – International Network and Repatriation

Via del pozzo 30, Monteriggioni, 53100, Siena, ITALY

Erna-Scheffler-Strasse 2, 51103 Köln, GERMANY

24hr tel: fax:

+39 0823 966 694 +39 0823 966 694

info@assistenzamedicah24.it www.medicalassistanceh24.com

email: website:

tel: fax:

CNAS

ambulance@malteser.org www.malteser-service-center.de

Marm Assistance Hamdi Inan – CEO

80 rue des alliés, 38100, Grenoble, FRANCE

AirPort Plaza, Ankara Caddesi, No:486, Kurtkoy 34912, Istanbul, TURKEY

+33 438 49 83 49 +33 438 49 83 40

email: website:

carole.luisy@cnas-assistance.com www.cnas-assistance.com

tel: fax:

DRF Luftrettung / German Air Rescue

German Air Rescue

email: website:

Carole Luisy – Managing Director

tel: fax:

German Air Rescue – Claim-Variante rot / schwarz

+49 221 98 22 9333 +49 40 694597 61339

+90 216 560 07 24 +90 216 560 07 07

email: website:

marm@marm.com.tr www.marmassistance.com

Medicall AG

Dr. Peter Huber – CEO

Markus Detel – Manager International Network

Rita-Maiburg-Str. 2, D-70794 Filderstadt, GERMANY

Zurichstrasse 38, CH-8306 Bruttisellen, SWITZERLAND

24h tel: fax:

+49 711 7007 3010 +49 711 7007 3119

email: website:

ops@drf-luftrettung.de www.drf-luftrettung.de/air-ambulance

tel:

DRK Assistance

+41 44 655 16 67

email: website:

mservices@medicall.ch www.medicall.ch

National Health Service LLC Andreas Speich – Managing Director

Dr. Ashfaq Rizvi – Financial Director

Aufm Hennekamp 71, 40225 Düsseldorf, GERMANY

101000 Russia, Moscow, Potapovsky lane 5-2, RUSSIA

tel: fax:

+49 (211) 301 805 0 +49 (211) 301 805 21

email: website:

moc@drkassistance.de www.drkassistance.com

tel: fax:

EgyCross Assistance

email: website:

drrizvi@nhsassist.ru www.nhsassist.ru

Save Assistance France

Dr. Hany Benyamen – CEO

Thomas Blanchet – Key Account Manager / Responsable Grands Comptes 6 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Le Campus, Bat. B1, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux., FRANCE tel: +33 (0)13062 6752 email: blanchet@saveassistance.com 24 tel: +33 (0)13062 1122 website: www.saveassistance.com

Av. del General Perón, 25 . Planta 10 F, 28020 Madrid, SPAIN tel: tel:

+7 (495) 374-88-24 +7 (495) 374-88-24

+34 910 602 414 +20 100 6222 910

email: website:

ecanetwork@egycross-assistance.com www.egycross-europe.com

39

SERVICE DIRECTORY

Savitar Group Ltd. Maria Berkova – General Manager 3rd floor, entrance #4, 20/3 Bolshoy Karetniy lane, Moscow, 127051, RUSSIA tel: +7 495 987 1775 email: svg@savitar-gr.com fax: +7 495 987 1776 website: www.savitar-gr.com

Semesur Eugenio Crenes – General Manager Paseo de la Castellana 18, 7ª Planta, 28046 Madrid, SPAIN +34 911 010 470 +34 902 001 410

tel: fax:

email: website:

info@semesur.com www.semesur.com

ASSISTANCE COMPANIES (NORTH AMERICA)

ASSISTANCE COMPANIES

(EUROPE)

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

Tangiers International

Active Care Management Paul Schlosser – Client Relationship Manager 3600 Rhodes Dr., Windsor, ON, N8W 5A4, CANADA tel: fax:

Jim Koziol – General Manager, North America 3330 Business Park Drive, Stevens Point WI 54482, USA tel:

+1 715 295 9105

email: website:

jim.koziol@aig.com aig.com/travel

ASSIST CARD Federico Tarling – Chief Service Officer ASSIST-CARD Building, 175 South West 7th Street, Suite 2407, Miami, FL 33130, USA tel: +1 305 381 9959/69 email: federico.tarling@assistcard.com toll free: +1 800 874 2223 website: www.assistcard.com

54 Melita Street, Valetta, VLT 1122, MALTA +356 277 800 16 +356 272 055 00

email: website:

info@tangiersinternational.com www.tangiersinternational.com

TBS Team 24 d.o.o

AXA Partners US

Edvard Hojnik – General Manger

Simon Jackson – Chief Commercial Officer

CROATIA, SLOVENIA, SERBIA, MNE, BH, KOS, MAC

122 South Michigan Ave, Suite 1100, Chicago, IL 60603, USA

+386 2616 5819 +386 2618 5800

tel: fax:

email: website:

tel:

info@tbs-team24.com www. tbs-team24.com

+1 312 935 1771

email: website:

simon.jackson@axa-assistance.us www.axa-assistance.us

CanAssistance

Tyrol Air Ambulance

Fabienne Lavoie – Director, International Operations and Claims

Manfred Helldoppler – Managing Director

550 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite B-9, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3S3, CANADA tel: +1 514 286 7707 email: fabienne.lavoie@canassistance.com fax: +1 514 286 8413 website: www.canassistance.com

Fuerstenweg 180, A-6026 Innsbruck-Airport, AUSTRIA +43 512 22422 100 +43 512 288 888

tel: fax:

(MIDDLE EAST)

pschlosser@active-care.ca www.active-care.ca

email: website:

AIG Travel

Jane Hegeler – Managing Director

tel: fax:

+519 945 8256 ext.4111 +519 251 5165

email: website:

taa@taa.at www.taa.at

GORAL ASSISTANCE CANADA INC.

CONNEX Assistance JLT Lara Helmi – International Network Director

David Ohayon – Local Manager

#204 Gold Crest Executive Tower, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES tel: +97 14 368 36 25 email: dubai@connexassistance.com fax: +97 14 420 49 12 website: www.connexassistance.com

2155 Vincent St, Montreal, QC H4M 1M6, CANADA tel: fax:

+20 122 216 1133 Trambley@eagleassistance.com +20 120 242 4444

info@goralassist.ca www.goralassist.com

Ignacio C. Marquez – COO

Marcos Morgan – Founder & CEO

2999 NE 191st Street, Suite 608, Aventura, Florida, USA

38 Dr Mohammed Ali Al Baqli, El-Nozha, Cairo Governorate, EGYPT tel: email: hotline:

email: website:

MD ABROAD

Eagle Assistance International Ossama Trambley – Chairman

+1 514 448 1343 +1 514 448 1835

tel: fax:

+20 127 373 1478 Marcos@eagleassistance.com www.eagleassistance.com

tel: email: website:

+1 (786) 475-5475 +1 718 847 0533

email: website:

operations@mdabroad.com www.mdabroad.com

SunMed International, LLC

Fakeeh International Dr. Fatih Mehmet GUL – Executive Director

Dra. Kinyi Haber – Medical Director. VP International Operation

Palestine Street, Al Hamra District P.O. Box 2537 21461, JEDDAH/SAUDI ARABIA tel: 00966 12 6603080 email: ops@fakeehinternational.com website: www.fakeehinternational.com

2000 NW 89th Place. Miami FL 33172, UNITED STATES tel: fax:

+1 786 888 6792 +1 786 551 0763

email: website:

khaber@sunmedint.net www.sunmedint.net

TMCA Group Corp

GORAL ASSISTANCE LTD Marcel Kadoche – International Network and Development Manager

Crystal Wharton – President

Maskit 27 str. Herzeliya Industrial Park 46733, ISRAEL

217 Broadway Suite 608, New York, New York 10007, USA

tel: fax:

+972 9 9579930 +972 9 9579931

email: website:

tel: fax:

info@goralassist.com www.goralassist.com

+1 646 398 9021 +1 646 398 9025

email: website:

Crystal@tmcatravel.com www.tmcatravel.com

IRAN ASSISTANCE Ashkan Lahiji – International Network Manager No 24,SOS building,15th Street, Gandi Avenue, Tehran,15175, IRAN tel: fax:

+98-21-88648620 - 24 +98-21-88648502

email: website:

To have your company listed in our service directory, contact the sales department now:

operation@iranassistance.com www.iranassistance.com

LGA - LIFE GULF ASSISTANCE Dr. Ahmed Monir – CEO Al Salam Tower, Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES tel: mob:

+971 55 314 5045 +971 52 758 1032

email: website:

sales@itij.com

dr.ahmed@lgadubai.com www.lgadubai.com

SWAN INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE – MUTUAL CARE

+44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

Mr. Joseph Akiki – CEO P.O. Box 2265 Jounieh, Lebanon tel 24/7: fax:

+961 9 224 008/009 +961 9 224 010

email: website:

request@swanassistance.com www.swanassistance.com

40

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

Global Excel Management John Spears – VP Business Development & Marketing 73 Queen St, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C9, CANADA tel: fax:

+1 819 566 8833 +1 819 566 8447

email: website:

corpinfo@globalexcel.com www.globalexcel.com

New Frontier Group Gitte Bach – President and CEO 1024 Bayside Drive, Suite 144, Newport Beach, California, 92660-7462, USA tel: +1 949 429 7130 email: Bach@NewFrontierGroup.com fax: +1 949 666 6520 website: www.newfrontiergroup.com

COST CONTAINMENT (EUROPE) (AFRICA)

CATASTROPHIC CLAIMS SPECIALISTS

SERVICE DIRECTORY

Plotkin Health Inc – A Subsidiary of MacroHealth LP

AIMS Bernadette Breton – Chief Executive Officer AIMS House, 3 West St, Bryanston 2191, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA tel: +00 27 11 783 0135 email: operations@aims.org.za fax: +00 27 11 783 2950 website: www.aims.org.za

AP Companies Natalya Butakova – Business Development Manager 17 Varshavskoye Shosse, Moscow 117105, RUSSIA tel: fax:

email: website:

natalya@ap-companies.ru www.ap-companies.ru

Eurocross Turkey

Shaun A. Plotkin BA (Uvic), LLB (Monash), GDLP – President

Mehtap Baylam Akkaya – CEO

27-3088 Francis Road, Richmond, British Columbia V7C 5V9, CANADA

Altunizade Mahallesi, Ord. Prof. Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Caddesi, Eşref Çakmak Plaza, No:32 Kat:3 34662 Üsküdar İstanbul, TURKEY tel: +90 216 265 15 25 email: int@eurocrossturkey.com.tr website: www.eurocrossturkey.com.tr fax: +90 216 265 15 65

tel: fax:

+1 604 241 9639 +1 604 241 0733

email: website:

shaun@plotkinconsulting.com www.plotkinconsulting.com

To have your company listed in our service directory

Global Excel Management Mary-Jo McDonald (MJ) – Managing Director – Europe

contact the sales department now:

Sanderum Centre, 30a Upper High Street, Thame, OX9 3EX, UK

sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

tel: fax:

Claims at TuGo

+44 1865 400 007 +44 845 003 1351

email: website:

corpinfo@globalexcel.com www.globalexcel.com

Marm Assistance Taka Katsube – Director Assistance & Cost Managment

Hamdi Inan – CEO

10th Floor, 6081 No.3 Road, Richmond, BC V6Y 2B2, CANADA

AirPort Plaza, Ankara Caddesi, No:486, Kurtkoy 34912, Istanbul, TURKEY

tel: fax:

+1 604 303 2113 +1 604 276 4593

email: website:

tkat@tugo.com www.tugo.com

tel: fax:

Eurocross Turkey

sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

Global Assistance & Healthcare Alain Durand – President Director Cibis Nine, 5th Fl, Jalan TB. Simatupang No. 2, Cilandak – Pasar Minggu, Jakarta 12560, INDONESIA tel: +62 21 299 78 999 email: global@global-assistance.net fax: +62 21 299 78 9555/66 website: www.global-assistance.net

Global Excel Management John Spears – VP Business Development & Marketing 73 Queen St, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C9, CANADA +1 819 566 8833 +1 819 566 8447

email: website:

marm@marm.com.tr www.marmassistance.com

email: website:

contact the sales department now:

Altunizade Mahallesi, Ord. Prof. Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Caddesi, Eşref Çakmak Plaza, No:32 Kat:3 34662 Üsküdar, İstanbul, TURKEY tel: +90 216 265 15 25 email: int@eurocrossturkey.com.tr website: www.eurocrossturkey.com.tr fax: +90 216 265 15 65

tel: fax:

+90 216 560 07 24 +90 216 560 07 07

To have your company listed in our service directory

Mehtap Baylam Akkaya – CEO

(NORTH AMERICA)

CLAIMS MANAGEMENT

+7 495 989 1120 +7 495 989 1130

Claims at TuGo Taka Katsube – Director Assistance & Cost Managment 10th Floor, 6081 No.3 Road, Richmond, BC V6Y 2B2, CANADA tel: fax:

tkat@tugo.com www.tugo.com

email: website:

Global Excel Management John Spears – VP Business Development & Marketing 73 Queen St, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C9, CANADA

corpinfo@globalexcel.com www.globalexcel.com

tel: fax:

Intana Global

+1 604 303 2113 +1 604 276 4593

+1 819 566 8833 +1 819 566 8447

email: website:

corpinfo@globalexcel.com www.globalexcel.com

Global Medical Management Denise Groom – Head of Commercial

Raija Itzchaki – COO

Sussex House, Perrymount Road, Haywards heath, West Sussex, RH16 1DN, UK email: enquiries@intana-global.com website: www.intana-global.com

880 SW 145th Ave., Suite 400, Pembroke Pines, FL, 33027, USA tel: fax:

New Frontier Group

+1 954 370 6404 +1 954 370 8613

email: website:

info@gmmi.com www.gmmi.com

MD ABROAD

Gitte Bach – President and CEO

Ignacio C. Marquez – COO

1024 Bayside Drive, Suite 144, Newport Beach, California, 92660-7462, USA

2999 NE 191st Street, Suite 608, Aventura, Florida, USA

tel: fax:

+1 949 429 7130 +1 949 666 6520

email: website:

Bach@NewFrontierGroup.com www.newfrontiergroup.com

tel: fax:

Star Healthcare Network, Inc.

+ 1 (786) 475-5475 +1 718 847 0533

email: website:

operations@mdabroad.com www.mdabroad.com

New Frontier Group

Gigi Galen Grobstein – President

Gitte Bach – President and CEO

120 Bloomingdale Road, Suite #304, White Plains, NY 10605, USA

1024 Bayside Drive, Suite 144, Newport Beach, California, 92660-7462, USA

tel: fax:

+ 1 914 358 9121 + 1 914 358 9206

email: website:

Ggalen@starhealthcarenet.com www.starhealthcarenet.com

tel: fax:

+1 949 429 7130 +1 949 666 6520

email: website:

Bach@NewFrontierGroup.com www.newfrontiergroup.com

Penfield Care

To have your company listed in our service directory

Mr Stephen Zatylny – President

contact the sales department now:

A1-130 Terence Matthews Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario, K2M 0J1, CANADA

sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

tel: fax:

41

+1 613 703 9861 +1 819 200 0281

email: website:

info@penfieldcare.com www.penfieldcare.com

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

DRK Assistance

Shaun A. Plotkin BA (Uvic), LLB (Monash), GDLP – President 27-3088 Francis Road, Richmond, British Columbia V7C 5V9, CANADA +1 604 241 9639 +1 604 241 0733

tel: fax:

shaun@plotkinconsulting.com www.plotkinconsulting.com

email: website:

Star Healthcare Network, Inc. Gigi Galen Grobstein – President 120 Bloomingdale Road, Suite #304, White Plains, NY 10605, USA + 1 914 358 9121 + 1 914 358 9206

tel: fax:

email: website:

Ggalen@starhealthcarenet.com www.starhealthcarenet.com

FUNERAL DIRECTORS

COST CONTAINMENT (NORTH AMERICA)

Plotkin Health Inc – A Subsidiary of MacroHealth LP

CRITICAL CARE PATIENT TRANSPORT

SERVICE DIRECTORY

299-305 Whitehorse Road, West Croydon, Surrey CR0 2HR, UK tel: fax:

+44 20 8684 2324 +44 20 8684 8000

email: website:

info@rowlandbrothersinternational.com www.rowlandbrothersinternational.com

Singapore Casket Company Ltd Calvin Tang 131 Lavender Street, Singapore, 338737, SINGAPORE tel: fax:

+65 6293 4388 +65 6296 5993

email: website:

customerservice@singaporecasket.com.sg www.singaporecasket.com.sg

Andreas Speich – Managing Director

Mourad Messaoud – General Manager

Aufm Hennekamp 71, 40225 Düsseldorf, GERMANY

calle jesus 25-29200- ANTEQUERA, SPAIN

email: website:

European Air Ambulance Patrick Schomaker – Director Sales & Marketing Luxembourg Airport, B.P.24, L-5201, Sandweiler, LUXEMBOURG 24hr tel: fax:

+352 26 26 00 +352 26 26 01

email: website:

alert@air-ambulance.com www.air-ambulance.com

Johannes Hoischen – International Network and Repatriation Erna-Scheffler-Strasse 2, 51103 Köln, GERMANY tel: fax:

+49 221 98 22 9333 +49 40 694597 61339

ambulance@malteser.org www.malteser-service-center.de

email: website:

Skyservice Air Ambulance David Ewing – Executive Vice-President, Global Markets

+34 902 008 407 +34 627 053 979

tel: tel:

moc@drkassistance.com www.drkassistance.com

GROUND TRANSPORT - MEDICAL

+49 211 301 805-0 +49 211 301 805-21

Malteser Service Center

Montreal/PE Trudeau Int Airport, 9785 Avenue Ryan, Montreal (Quebec), H9P 1A2, CANADA tel: +1 514 497 7000 email: alert@skyservice.com fax: +1 514 636 0096 website: www.skyserviceairambulance.com

email: website:

contact@spainfuneralservices.com www.spainfuneralservices.com

CNAS Carole Luisy – Managing Director 80 rue des alliés, 38100, Grenoble, FRANCE +33 438 49 83 49 +33 438 49 83 40

tel: fax:

email: website:

carole.luisy@cnas-assistance.com www.cnas-assistance.com

DRK Assistance Andreas Speich – Managing Director Aufm Hennekamp 71, 40225 Düsseldorf, GERMANY +49 211 301 805-0 +49 211 301 805-21

tel: fax:

email: website:

moc@drkassistance.com www.drkassistance.com

Gateway International EMS Oliver L. Müller – Managing Director 1440 G St. NW, Washington DC, 20005 , USA tel: fax:

+1-888-828-5258 +1-201-205-2239

email: website:

operations@gateway-ems.com www.gateway-ems.com

GroundMed Australia

To have your company listed in our service directory

Matthew Kline & Mark Wardrop – Executive Directors

contact the sales department now:

Hangar 650 Drover Road, Bankstown Airport. NSW, Sydney, AUSTRALIA 2200 tel: +61 2 8700 0685 email: ops@airmed.com.au fax: +61 2 8700 0663 website: www.airmed.com.au

sales@itij.com or telephone: +44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1) FUNERAL DIRECTORS

Fiona Greenwood – Operations Director

Spain Funeral Services

tel: fax:

Flying Home Pte Ltd

LifeMed Worldwide

Mr Ang Ziqian – Director

24/7 Chauffeured Transportation & Ground Ambulance

Blk 4 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh #01-1345A, SINGAPORE

990 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 502 Miami, FL 33132, USA

tel: fax:

+65 6253 0001 +65 6353 5801

email: website:

tel:

enquiry@flyinghome.com www.flyinghome.com

+1-305-501-2009

email: website:

ops@lifemedworldwide.com www.lifemedworldwide.com

One Call Medical Transport

Funeral Home AURIGA Ltd. Helena Sulikova – Chief of International Department

24 Hour Worldwide Ground Transports

B. Nemcové Street 1052/1, 412 01 Litomerice, CZECH REPUBLIC

3815 E Main St., Suite C St. Charles, IL 60174, USA

tel: fax:

Funeralia

Rowland Brothers International Ltd.

+420 724 257 899 +420 416 732 582

email: website:

tel: fax:

repatriations@pohrebni-auriga.cz www.funeral-assistance.cz

+1 630 444 2100 +1 630 823 2900

email: email:

ops@ocmt.com www.ocmt.com

Oleg Antoni Milinski – Funeral Director International funeral services, UKRAINE, POLAND, ITALY tel: fax:

+38 0971 498 785 +48 5131 236 78

email: website:

To have your company listed in our service directory, contact the sales department now:

funeralia.org@gmail.com www.Funeralia.org

Funerarium International repatriation and embalming Maurizio Fantozzi – Director

Indirizzo dell’Azienda: Via Roma 255, Capistrello, Aquila, ITALY tel: tel:

+39 327 328 7979 +39 (0) 863 186 1635

email: website:

segreteria@funerarium.it funerarium.it

sales@itij.com

FUNERARIA OFFICIA ROBERTO ZEGA - Worldwide Repatriations Specialist Cristina Zega – Repatriations Manager

+44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

Via Clelia, 26 / 28 - 00181 Roma, ITALY tel: fax:

0039 06 78 40 300 0039 06 78 02 488

email: website:

info@zega.it www.zega.it

42

For all Service Directory enquiries email: sales@itij.com or please call +44 (0) 117 925 5151 (opt. 1)

Şirinyali Mh.1487 Sk. No:4 Muratpaşa/Antalya, TURKEY +90 242 310 80 80/182 +90 242 316 50 07

tel: fax:

email: website:

burakertugrul@lifehospital.com.tr www.yasamhastaneleri.com

Jackson Memorial Hospital International Dominick Destefano – Associate Director of Sales 1500 NW 12th Avenue, Suite 829 East, Miami, FL 33136, USA +305-355-1211 +305-355-5545

tel: fax:

email: website:

Dominick.destefano@jhsmiami.org www.jmhi.org

Luz Saúde SA Eve Jokel, MPH – International Director Rua Carlos Alberto da Mota Pinto, 17-9.º 1070-313 Lisboa, PORTUGAL +351 213 138 260 +351 213 530 292

tel: fax:

intlpatientservices@luzsaude.pt luzsaude.pt/en

David Ewing – President 9785 Avenue Ryan, Montréal, Quebec, CANADA, h9p 1a2 1 519 942 8143 1 519 941 4213

tel: fax:

email: website:

repat@parkviewairmedical.com www.parkviewairmedical.com

SkyCare Global LLC.

Stephen Avise – VP of Operations 835 Seminole Blvd., Tarpon Springs FL, 34689, USA +1 727 230 2263 +39 345 461 8122

US tel: EU tel:

email: website:

info@skycareglobal.com www.skycareglobal.com

AMREF Flying Doctors Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director Wilson Airport, Langata Road, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA +254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170

tel: fax:

email: website:

Miguel Torregrosa – International Inbound Business Manager

Joe Beeltah – Client Liaison Executive

SPAIN

121 Harley Street, London W1G 6AX, UK +34 901 123 456

tel:

email: website:

Jacquie Schwoerke – Vice President, Sharp GPS 8695 Spectrum Center Blvd., San Diego, CA 92123, USA toll free: tel:

+1 619 471 0466 +1 858 499 4967

email: website:

24/7 tel: int. tel:

g24@quironsalud.es www.quironsalud.es/international

Sharp Global Patient Services

Sharp.GlobalPatientServices@sharp.com www.sharp.com

UC San Diego Health System International Patient Program

emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org

0344 257 0345 +44 161 214 1906

email: website:

guarantees@doctorcall.co.uk www.doctorcall.co.uk

Aquarium Software Ltd Mark Colonnese – Director Poplar House, 126a Ashley Road, Hale, WA14 2UN, UK +44 (0)161 927 5620 +1 213 205 2200

tel: tel:

email: website:

mark.colonnese@aquarium-software.com

www.aquarium-software.com

Cambridge Global Payments

Stacy Holberg – Director of International Program Operations

Brad Loder – VP Marketing & Corporate Sponsorships

136 W. Dickinson Street, Suite 109, San Diego, CA 92103-8222, USA

212 King Street West, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M5H 1K5 CANADA

+1 619 471 0466 +1 619 543 5282

tel: fax:

MEDICAL ESCORT ON COMMERCIAL AIRLINES

PARKVIEW AIR MEDICAL

The Doctorcall Group

TECHNOLOGY

Quironsalud

email: website:

MEDICAL ESCORT ON COMMERCIAL AIRLINES

Burak ERTUĞRUL – International Inbound Business Manager

MEDICAL PROVIDER

Antalya Life Hospital

email: website:

sholberg@ucsd.edu health.ucsd.edu/international

tel:

AirMed Australia

email: website:

+1 (416) 646 6401 ext. 2392

bloder@cambridgefx.com www.cambridgefx.com

Firemelon (Magenta Insurance System)

Matthew Kline & Mark Wardrop – Executive Directors

David Corney – Managing Director

Hangar 650 Drover Road, Bankstown Airport. NSW, Sydney, AUSTRALIA 2200 tel: +61 2 8700 0685 email: ops@airmed.com.au fax: +61 2 8700 0663 website: www.airmed.com.au

40-42 Lisburn Road, Belfast,BT9 6AA, NORTHERN IRELAND tel:

AMREF Flying Doctors

02895 213 831

email: website:

david.corney@firemelon.com www.firemelon.com

Nordic Insurance Software

Dr Bettina Vadera – Medical Director

Elliott Draga – Head of Sales and Marketing

Wilson Airport, Langata Road, PO Box 18617, Nairobi, KENYA

Aarhusgade 88, 6th Floor, 2100 Copenhagen, DENMARK

tel: fax:

+254 20 6000 090 +254 20 344 170

email: website:

emergency@flydoc.org www.flydoc.org

DRK Assistance Andreas Speich – Managing Director Aufm Hennekamp 71, 40225 Düsseldorf, GERMANY tel: fax:

+49 211 301 805-0 +49 211 301 805-21

email: website:

moc@drkassistance.com www.drkassistance.com

tel:

TRAVEL AGENTS

HOSPITALS

SERVICE DIRECTORY

+1 (905) 866-8262

email: website:

elliott.draga@nisportal.com www.nisportal.com

Voyageur Aeromedical Travel Marc Banting – Director 19 Lower Park Row, Bristol, UK tel: fax:

+44 (0)117 921 0401 +44 (0)845 384 7008

email: website:

marc@voyageur.co.uk www.voyageur24.com

European Air Ambulance Patrick Schomaker – Director Sales & Marketing

To have your company listed in our service directory, contact the sales department now:

Luxembourg Airport, B.P.24, L-5201, Sandweiler, LUXEMBOURG 24hr tel: fax:

Medical Wings

+352 26 26 00 +352 26 26 01

email: website:

alert@air-ambulance.com www.air-ambulance.com

Dr.Sura Jaidwatee, M.D. – Medical Flight Manager 222 Don Mueang International Airport Office Building 3rd Floor, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Sanambin, Don Mueang, Bangkok 10210, THAILAND 24h tel: +662 247 3392 email: m.w@medicalwings.com fax: +662 535 4734 website: www.medicalwings.com

sales@itij.com

Prime Nursing Care, Inc.

+44 (0)117 925 51 51 (opt.1)

Franziska Hollenstein – CEO / Founder 2005 Van Buren Street, Suite 215, Hollywood, Florida, 33020, USA 24/ 7 tel: fax:

+ 1 754 999 0460 + 1 754 222 5051

email: website:

contact@primenursingcare.com www.primenursingcare.com

43

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