Allianz Partners’ annual Global Travel Summit explores the trends shaping a turbulent year for travel – and the new customer expectations defining the industry.
As the industry gears up for its busiest period of the year, three big topics have emerged to define the travel insurance sector in 2023: elevated levels of demand for insurance, increased economic and geopolitical volatility, and higher customer expectations. These were three key insights from Allianz’s Global Travel Summit, held recently in Paris.
“Riding the wave”: Travel’s comeback continues despite inflationary pressures
Travel volume remains strong in 2023, and consumer interest in travel insurance is well above pre-pandemic levels. Allianz Partners’ Customer Lab data from across Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK showed purchase intentions of travel insurance more than double between 2019 and 2022 – from 21% in 2019 to 55% in 2022 for international travel.
Heightened demand contributed to significant growth in Allianz Partners’ travel business in 2022. Customer numbers have also remained strong through the first months of 2023 marking significant year-over-year growth.
But high demand is accompanied by a significant increase in customers’ expectations from their insurer, including more timely handling of claims and greater responsiveness. The summit explored the need for greater efficiency and a seamless experience, along with technical innovations that will provide more protection and convenience benefits through Allianz’ Allyz platform.
Joe Mason, Chief Marketing Officer – Travel, Allianz Partners, commented:“A surge in leisure travel has coincided with high inflation – especially for transportation, food, and entertainment. Rapid advances in technology and AI are happening even as customers place more emphasis on 1-on-1 support during critical moments. Add to the mix climate change, labor shortages in the travel sector, and geopolitical volatility and 2023 is shaping up to be a very complex year”.
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