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The travel insurance division of Generali Global Assistance has released the results of its annual survey, which has unearthed some interesting trends among US travelers.
The survey found that more American travelers have plans for a summer vacation trip this year – 68%, up from 61% in 2016. This tied Americans with Brazilians as the most likely to travel this year, beating out the Chinese (67%) and Europeans (64%).
“After a significant dip in 2016, summer travel has rebounded over the past two years,” commented Generali Global Assistance CEO Chris Carnicelli. “With budgets remaining relatively flat, unsurprisingly 46% of vacationers will stay within the US this year, up five percentage points from 2017.”
Carnicelli also listed the most preferred vacation destinations for American travelers – Canada was the top getaway, with Mexico taking second place. The Bahamas, Italy, and France all came in tied for third place.
Interestingly, the survey discovered that most American travelers do secure insurance beforehand.
“Americans that plan to travel this summer indicated that they are usually covered by insurance for health-related issues for themselves or their family (70%), a vehicle breakdown (71%), a transportation accident (67%), and the loss of personal belongings, like luggage (57%),” Carnicelli pointed out.
The CEO also noted that Europeans are far more likely to purchase travel insurance directly from a travel insurance provider, at 40%, versus Americans at 22%. A good portion of US travelers (36%) said that they get their insurance through their credit card companies.
“Americans should make sure they do their research on the benefits they are receiving when they buy travel insurance as the policy received through their credit card may not be encompassing enough of their needs,” Carnicelli cautioned.
