Skift Take

Sales of travel insurance are on the rise, possibly due to heightened awareness of risks posed by everything from terrorist attacks to a sudden illness. For travel advisors, insurance is both a source of revenue and a way to provide good customer service.

Whether you are a home-based travel advisor or you work in a large office servicing high-profile accounts, the Travel Advisor Innovation Report will have you covered with the trends, news, and features you’ll need to stay on top of an ever-changing marketplace.

Travel insurance is a growing source of revenue for travel advisors, with a contributing factor likely coming from recent high-profile disasters such as terrorist attacks, plane crashes, and cruise ship malfunctions. According to Squaremouth, the travel insurance comparison site, sales are already up by 24 percent this year and are likely to keep increasing in the future.

Advisors are in a good position to counsel clients on what they need and whether or not their existing coverage is adequate. Not every trip may warrant insurance, but in cases where thousands of dollars are being invested, it could turn out to be a wise choice if things don’t go according to plan.

Skift also takes an in-depth look at what it takes to win lucrative contracts for government travel. Unfortunately, the complexities involved make it nearly impossible for most travel agencies to crack the market.

For more coverage of pertinent issues, click here.

Any suggestions for the coverage you would like to see are welcome. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

— Maria Lenhart, Travel Advisor Editor

Featured Stories

Travel Advisors See Trip Insurance Opportunity Where Credit Cards Fall Short: Awareness of the need for travel insurance is on the rise in some quarters. This trend offers significant opportunities for travel advisors to generate additional revenue and offer peace of mind to travelers.

Inside the Clubby Business of Government Travel: A Skift Deep Dive: Navigating the world of government travel is so complex that it’s hard for outside companies to handle it. And even if they can, opportunities are slim for getting big contracts with tens of billions of dollars up for grabs.

Norwegian Cruise Line Sees Upside in Leaving China for North America: Norwegian’s decision to move ships out of the Chinese market and into North America appears to be paying off.

Tourism

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Hotels

Choice Hotels Looks to High-End Travelers to Boost Revenue: Choice knows where the money is, and right now it’s not in midscale brands. Will upgrading Comfort Inn be enough to lift room rates?

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Beverage Brands Get In on Growing Sober Curious Movement: If a bar doesn’t serve alcohol, is it really a bar? If a beer doesn’t get you buzzed, is it really a beer? As alcohol purveyors and entrepreneurs seek to cash in on the trend of healthy beverages, twists on nonalcoholic adult drinks are popping up everywhere.

The Travel Corporation Maps Path to Sustainability: There’s a long road ahead to achieving environmental sustainability in the travel industry. It involves a lot of effort from companies, but travelers and governments have to get on board too.

Airlines

Delta to Make It Easier to Keep Elite Status After a Major Life Event: Has anyone noticed that U.S. airlines are taking customer satisfaction more seriously now than a few years ago? It’s a good trend.

Airlines Take Notice of Millennials With New Strategies: Millennials don’t always want to go on vacation to places their parents like to visit. Airlines are starting to take notice.

Skift Travel Advisor Editor Maria Lenhart [[email protected]] curates the Skift Travel Advisor Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send her an email.

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Tags: government travel, travel advisor innovation report, travel agents, travel insurance

Photo credit: Travel advisors are seeing an uptick in travel insurance sales after recent disasters. Some of the remaining passengers look out as the cruise ship Viking Sky arrives at port off Molde, Norway, March 24, 2019, after having problems and issuing a Mayday call on in the heavy seas off Norway's western coast. Svein Ove Ekornesvag / Associated Press

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