Travel insurance sales spike from 2012 Olympics

Travel Insurance

Travel Insurance

Americans are purchasing coverage in case of hassles while traveling during the games.

The 2012 Olympics in London have not only generated an increased amount of business for airlines, hotels, and car rentals, but the insurance industry is also already seeing a rise in their sales.

The travel industry as a whole is expected to see a 30 percent surge in the travelers to London (over 2011).

Companies offering travel insurance are have already noticed that they have an important slice of this pie. For example, Allianz Global Assistance USA, based in Richmond, Virginia, which is the leading American travel assistance and policy provider, has said that the sales for people traveling from the United States to London in the months of July through September have already increased by 36 percent over the same period of time last year.

They also stated that the customers who are traveling to the 2012 host city will be remaining within London for a longer period than they usually would, and one fifth are purchasing their tickets with frequent flyer miles (either exclusively or in order to obtain a discount).

According to the Allianz Global Assistance USA director of market intelligence, Robert Pearson, “Summer travel to Europe is always strong, but the 2012 London Olympics is creating a perfect storm of potential headaches for travelers.” He added that “Unexpected illness or injury, significant airline delays and lost or delayed baggage are some of the concerns that consumers have when traveling and they are using travel insurance as a strategy to mitigate those risks.”

Americans are seeing that although there will be more staff on at all of the various terminals and other locations handling travelers and their belongings, there will still be much more pressure on that infrastructure, which could lead to misdirected or lost baggage, and longer delays. They are choosing to protect themselves from these potential losses with travel coverage.

In fact, Allianz Global Assistance USA has seen a 36 percent increase in their own sales during and around the time of the 2012 Olympics, which directly reflects the surges seen throughout the travel industry at that time.

 

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