“If you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel” was one of the key take-outs of DFAT’s Consular State of Play report 2021/22 launched in Canberra on Thursday.
In launching the report, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Tim Watts said requests for consular support from Australians during 2021/22 almost tripled to 34,000, highlighting the need for Aussie to take travel insurance more seriously.
CEO of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents, Dean Long, said the report contains some frightening statistics on Australian attitudes to international travel and insurance when travelling in a post-pandemic environment, with 1 in 10 travellers under 30 are most at risk of travelling uninsured, actively rejecting the idea of taking out travel insurance regardless of the destination.
Overall, the report said 95 per cent of Australians who have booked a trip overseas plan to take out travel insurance, but more than half of that number are at risk of travelling underinsured as they have not personally read the fine print in detail.
Almost half identified one or more occasions when a person travelling overseas might not need travel insurance particularly travellers under 30, and up to two-thirds may still travel despite government advice not to.
“With more than 80 per cent of all international travel booked through one of our member travel agents and tour operators, AFTA welcomes the release of this year’s State of Consular Play report and its insights,” Long said.
“The report confirms that 95 per cent of Australians who have booked a trip will take out travel insurance and, with our ATAS-accredited businesses the number one distributor of travel insurance, travel professionals can and should be very proud of our role in keeping Australians travelling safely and with the appropriate and essential level of insurance protection.”
“If you can’t afford travel insurance, you simply shouldn’t be travelling.”
“Plus, by booking through an ATAS business, you have the additional confidence of knowing you are dealing with the very best.”
Image: L-R: Insurance Council of Australia CEO Andrew Hall, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs the Hon Tim Watts MP, and AFTA CEO Dean Long
