STEVENS POINT, WI – Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) revealed the initial findings of its sixth annual State of Travel Insurance survey of travelers. In a tumultuous year where vacations and business trips were abruptly canceled or rescheduled due to the pandemic, a record 49% of travelers said they are going to buy travel insurance more frequently in 2021 than they did in 2020. This is the highest spike in intent to purchase in the survey’s history and coincides with almost 70% of respondents saying the pandemic has changed the way they travel forever.
“The pandemic is going to continue to disrupt the travel industry well into 2021, so it seems only natural that traveler behaviors are changing and intent to buy travel insurance is spiking,” said Carol Mueller, vice president of Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection. “The pandemic has already significantly altered how people travel, which is why we have been introducing new insurance products.”
BHTP’s State of Travel Insurance research has been conducted each year since 2015 using independent national panels surveying consumers on future expectations in travel insurance and travel habits. This year, the study is being conducted in stages over several months to track how the COVID-19 pandemic changes traveler attitudes over time. The survey provides insights on not only travel insurance purchase trends, but also travel behaviors amongst the COVID-19 pandemic and 2021 travel expectations.
Early survey data conducted in August 2020 revealed several surprising insights about travelers’ current state of mind. Here are key findings from the State of Travel Insurance survey.
- Even in the face of the pandemic, respondents consider international terrorism to be their top threat to travel, followed by disease outbreaks and increased cost of travel.
- For the first time in State of Travel Insurance history, the highest number of respondents said if given $5,000 they would spend it on travel, hinting that people may prioritize purchasing travel with their disposable income as the economy improves.
- Following months of remote learning from home, families are more likely to let their kids plan some or all of their trips in 2020 compared to 2019.
- Travel insurance purchasers note that saving time and money is still the top reason for buying travel insurance followed by, and not surprisingly, fears of disease epidemics.
- Canada, Australia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand lead in terms of countries perceived to be the safest for travel.
The State of Travel Insurance survey is conducted by Polymath Research + Marketing.
