Skift Take
Global events during the past year have fundamentally shifted how travelers view insurance and how they want to interact with providers during their trips. What was once overlooked by many U.S. travelers is now largely thought of as necessary, and brands want to make policies easier to digest.
Disease outbreaks and terrorist attacks during the past year have caused many travelers to give more thought to protecting themselves than they have in the past, including buying travel insurance.
U.S. travelers historically chose travel insurance for cancellation reasons if something unexpected happenS before their trip, and mainly for international rather than domestic trips. This is still the dominant reason. But U.S. travelers are increasingly choosing insurance for post-departure protection, said Eman Barhoumeh, Expedia, Inc.'s senior director of global insurance. They're more concerned about medical coverage and emergency assistance for international travel or for delayed baggage, for example.
Travel insurance is generally second nature for non-U.S. travelers, particularly when it comes to medical coverage. Canadians and Australians' medical insurance plans, for instance, generally don't cover them when they travel abroad. Medical travel insurance has typically been more popular with European than U.S. travelers but the latter are increasingly choosing that coverage too.
Expedia, Inc.'s travel insurance team, for example, has found travelers booking air travel through Expedia.co
