Travel 2023: Focus on travel insurance and advance bookings

Travelling and ticking more destinations off the bucket list is apparently the most common new year resolution, and it seems people are planning their trips well in advance this year. In a series of tweets recently, Ritesh Agarwal, founder and group CEO of a travel tech company, shared that over 4.5 lakh bookings were made in December globally, which was 35% higher than last year. And as people book their travel months in advance, coupled with a more cautious approach in a post-pandemic world, there has been a sharp rise in the demand for travel insurance.

‘After two years of unpredictability in travel, people are booking in advance’
Most travellers are booking hotels and flights in advance to avoid paying high prices later. Santosh Bansal, a travel agent from Delhi, shares that in the first week of January, there has been an almost 40% increase in the number of bookings made in advance compared to last year. “In the last few years, there was a lot of unpredictability around travel, and in 2022, most people made last-minute travel plans, and many could not find their desired flights or hotels. So, this year, people are booking everything in advance. They also take travel insurance, and details on cancellation charge well in advance, especially for international travel,” he adds.

There’s demand for domestic travel insurance too
While in most international travel, getting an insurance is mandatory, now many are willing to take travel insurance even for domestic travel, especially in cases where bookings are made months in advance. Says Sumit Agarwal, Senior Vice President of a fintech arm of an online travel company, “There is a noticeable increase in insurance cover for domestic travel as well. The global health crisis has brought along a paradigm shift in the way people book travel today. Travel insurance is no longer an afterthought but an integral part of both domestic and international travel.” Sumit Sharma, a travel agent, adds, “This year there’s a huge demand for advance bookings, especially from budget travellers planning to travel in the summer. To safeguard against flight cancellations and other unforeseen situations, many domestic travellers now want travel insurance.”

Tips: Read terms carefully, look at multi-trip insurance

• Check if your existing insurance policy provides covers for your trip.
• Book travel insurance immediately after booking a trip. Most travel insurance policies come with a cancellation cover, in case the trip is cancelled. Read terms and conditions related to cancellation cover carefully.
• In case you are a frequent traveller, a multi-trip travel insurance policy can be an economical option.
• Some insurance companies have started covering the loss/ fraud of debit/credit card, jewellery insurance, quarantine cover and gadget loss cover, says Akash Rastogi, director of a Gurgaon-based travel company.