Travel insurers need to bump up Covid cover, as 55 per cent of consumers planning to travel in 2021 said it would be the most important aspect of travel insurance

AccuraCast releases new research around travel insurance

Travel insurance covering delays, lost baggage, general cancellations and medical cover have fallen to the bottom of the priority list

Bad news for the travel industry as 42 percent of consumers say they do not plan to travel in 2021

According to new research published by leading digital marketing agency AccuraCast, the most important aspect of travel insurance for consumers looking to travel this year is cancellation due to Covid restrictions (35 per cent), followed closely by medical cover, including Covid cover (20 per cent).

The survey of 1,500 people asked consumers what they would look for in a travel insurance policy for this year, but surprisingly the majority of respondents (42 per cent) said they didn’t plan to travel at all in 2021, so wouldn’t have any need for travel insurance.

Coverage for delays was no longer a priority, with only 6 per cent of respondents who were planning to travel, stating it was the most important aspect of a travel insurance policy.

Of those saying they would not travel in 2021, 50.5 per cent were in the 65 year plus age group. Those aged 18 to 24 years old were most likely to travel (36 per cent saying they would not travel). Respondents aged between 35 and 44 years were most likely to rank cancellations due to Covid restrictions as their priority.

Farhad Divecha, managing director and founder, AccuraCast, said: “We ran our survey to find out what would be the most important aspect of travel insurance for people looking to get away in 2021. Surprisingly though, the results found that 41.5 per cent of people weren’t planning on travelling in 2021 at all, so they wouldn’t need insurance.

“The travel industry has already taken a massive hit from Covid, and the results of this survey show that 2021 isn’t necessarily going to get any easier. For those who are looking to travel, protection against Covid-related cancellations and illnesses are top of the priority list, meaning that insurers need to make sure their policies have this covered if they want consumers to feel safe when travelling this year.”

At the bottom of the priority list for consumers planning to travel was cover for delays (6 per cent) and lost baggage cover (7 per cent). Cover for general cancellations and medical cover were ranked 15 per cent and 9.6 per cent respectively.

For more information about AccuraCast please visit: www.accuracast.com

About AccuraCast

Based in London, AccuraCast was founded in 2004 and is one of the longest-running independent search and social media marketing agencies in the UK. It has since grown to become the UK’s leading multilingual digital marketing agency. It specialises in helping travel brands grow internationally with online marketing in all major global languages to businesses worldwide.