There’s no hiding from the fact that the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has caused seismic shifts in the travel industry around the world.
As the first, lockdown, phase shifts into a period of management and containment, the focus is on what is being called the “new normal.” As part of that there has been a resumption of summer holidays to popular destinations in Europe and further afield. This is, obviously, a welcome move for tourists, travel agents and hoteliers. However, whilst holidays restart, we’re still a long way from anything we would recognise as “normal”.
Part of the problem is that the pandemic is still very much a live issue, and will be for the foreseeable future. This means uncertainty is going to be a feature of all holiday planning, far more than prior to the outbreak. Whilst the 2011 Iceland volcano eruption served as a wake up to show that disruption on a massive scale was possible the key lesson – the need for good travel insurance – was quickly forgotten by a big proportion of the travelling public.
Looking to the future we can say that the desire for foreign holidays is not likely to be diminished that much by the outbreak, but that the risk of disruption will certainly impact on demand as consumers weigh up the advantage of a relaxing holiday against the likelihood of cancellation or disruption due to disease.
See Current FCO Travel advice here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
Against that backdrop, the insurance industry has now moved to offer travellers products that will cover them for disruption or cancellation due to COVID. Policies vary from supplier to supplier but all provide some level of cover against coronavirus risks. It is now a condition of booking with Duke Travel – and most other providers – that you have adequate cover in place when you travel. We work with several suppliers and will be happy to provide you with further information on their policies at your request.
For residents of the United Kingdom only.
