Online travel insurance company, InsureandGo is anticipating a bumper Easter holiday season with more Australian families choosing to holiday overseas than ever before.
Easter 2014 is set to be an exceptionally busy period for the travel industry this year due to the fact that in 2014 Australian workers only need to take three days of annual leave between the Easter weekend (Friday 18 April – Monday 21 April) and the Anzac Day public holiday (Friday 25 April) in order to receive a whopping 10 day holiday.
With online travel insurer InsureandGo offering family policy perks such as allowing kids under the age of 18 to be covered for free when travelling with mum or dad; there has never been greater incentives for families to make the most of the Easter period with a short break overseas.
InsureandGo Australia has seen an increase in the number of family policies sold in the last year with sales growing from 8.96% of all polices sold in 2012 to 9.74% of all policies sold in 2013.
The latest sales figures from InsureandGo show that families want to ensure that they have the best level of cover available with over 44% of family policy purchasers opting to take out the gold level of cover – the highest level of cover that InsureandGo offer.
The most popular region for families to travel to currently is Asia followed by New Zealand and the Pacific.
Recent research conducted for Tourism Australia showed that the greatest volume of travel and one of the largest growth groups travelling overseas year on year are Australian families. (Source: http://www.tourism.australia.com/news/research-australians-urged-to-embrace-domestic-travel.aspx)
A number of interrelated factors have contributed to the increase in overseas travel. These include the greater affordability of overseas holidays and accommodation (due in part to the strength of the Australian dollar and increasing competition among airlines), as well as being able to research, compare and book online.
InsureandGo General Manager Sebastian Kaisin said the travel insurance industry is currently experiencing wholesale change.
“Historically, travel insurance was sold via travel agents at or near the time of booking, but today, online travel insurers such as InsureandGo.com.au have made it easy for consumers to identify, evaluate, compare and purchase travel insurance directly.
Ecommerce allows us to provide competitive prices as there are less overheads involved. ” Mr Kaisin said.
Mr Kaisin said not only are more Australian families travelling abroad for short break holidays; they are booking their holidays online as well as their travel insurance.
“Given the sheer convenience that online shopping brings, it’s not surprising that more and more mums and dads are finding the best way to research best prices for holidays as well as travel insurance is online.
“Booking travel insurance online allows parents to research and shop around and feel comfortable that they are choosing the right level of cover and policy for their family, at a competitive price.
“They can be assured that they are getting value for money as well as all the necessary inclusions in their travel insurance which is added peace of mind for a family holiday,” he said.
Father of three, Dean Linden booked his travel insurance online with InsureandGo through a price comparison website when travelling for a holiday to Fiji with his wife and three children, aged 13, 11 and six.
“I had booked our travel insurance with another company for previous trips and decided to look on a price comparison website just to see if what we had paid previously was competitive,” Mr Linden said.
“I saw that InsureandGo was about $9 cheaper than what I was previously paying so I then googled InsureandGo to find some blogs to see what other people were saying about them.
“Most comments were positive so I thought just go for it.
“Having fully comprehensive travel insurance with a reputable, trustworthy travel insurance company is extremely important to my wife and I as I’m sure it is to most families.
“I wanted to make sure we were covered entirely if anything was to happen such as needing medical attention,” Mr Linden said.
InsureandGo recently received two of the highest rating CANSTAR awards of 5 stars in the ‘Outstanding Value in the Domestic Travel Insurance’ category as well as within the ‘International Travel Insurance’ category for policies to New Zealand, Fiji, China, Bali, Thailand and South Africa for families (as well as singles and couples).
“Australian families travelling to New Zealand, Bali, Thailand, Fiji, China or South Africa on holidays can be assured that they are getting outstanding value in booking their travel insurance through InsureandGo with our latest CANSTAR 5 star rating,” Mr Kaisin said.
InsureandGo is one of world’s largest online travel insurance companies and recently launched in Australia in 2010. Globally, the company covers over 1.6 million travellers every year.
InsureandGo Australia is wholly owned by Mapfre Asistencia, a multinational insurance, reinsurance and assistance services provider. With 46 offices located throughout Europe, America, Asia and Africa, Mapfre Asistencia works with more than 1,500 corporate clients, has 90 million people insured and 190 million beneficiaries. It employs over 5100 people, has 35 24-hour assistance centres, with over 2000 multilingual operators and 315,000 health providers.
For further information on travel insurance policies for families where children under the age of 18 are covered for free when travelling with mum or dad, please visit www.insureandgo.com.au.
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