Insurers target domestic travellers in India
Mukesh Kumar, executive director of HDFC ERGO General Insurance, said recently that although the travel insurance sector is seeing double-digit growth in India, the vast majority of this growth comes from international travellers, with just two per cent of domestic travellers choosing to take out insurance for their trips, so there is huge potential to be tapped into: “The growth will come from the domestic market,” he told MyDigitalFC, a global business networking platform. “Domestic travel is on the rise.”
Indeed, fellow industry experts agree. Suresh Sugathan, head of health and travel insurance at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, confirmed that demand for domestic travel insurance is picking up, and the company hopes that the next five years will see premiums from such travellers double. It is planning to launch a new policy soon that targets just this market segment.
Sugathan said: “We are looking at various channels to sell travel insurance, apart from the traditional agents, as this is a low-ticket product and mostly sold while the client travels. Travel agents, holiday booking sites, airline sites, bus service sites and cab services are the channels that can offer insurance to their clients. Most of them are now selling it as an option along with their products, while some bundle it with their tickets as the premiums are so low.”
Meanwhile, ICICI Lombard General Insurance has released the findings of its Millennial Travel Study 2015, in which it found only between two and five per cent of Indians travelling internationally buy insurance for their trips (despite 90 per cent being aware of it), with the top two reasons behind purchases being baggage loss and medical emergencies. The main concern of travellers these days, according to the survey, related to safety, with the report stating: “Problems related to terror attacks or political unrest, travel restrictions, and unusual experiences like harassment, suspected surveillance, detention and customs inspections bother the new-age traveller.”
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