Policies that lighten the burden of anxious tourists
Blue Cross senior manager Simon Leung says travel insurance sales surged after the tsunami
I HAVE WORKED in insurance for 25 years, since my mid-20s, and joined Blue Cross five years ago, overseeing the travel side of the business which was one of our original core products, as well as health insurance.
Blue Cross is well known in Hong Kong. It has been in health and travel insurance for 35 years and is currently a market leader. The company was recently voted the most popular travel insurance company by readers of the Chinese magazine Weekend Weekly.
Since becoming part of the Bank of East Asia, our coverage has extended to life insurance, so travel represents a small portion of the company's business. But it is playing a much more important role lately, with 20 to 30 per cent growth over the past year - because of 9/11, the tsunami and a number of fatal coach tour accidents on the mainland and in Taiwan.
There were more than 50 million visits to the mainland last year, an amazing figure representing an average of 10 visits for each of us in Hong Kong. The number was up 30 per cent last year alone, and people are increasingly appreciating the peace of mind that travel insurance brings.
Traffic sense is terrible on the mainland. Insurance cover can save a lot of anxiety over hospital bills, repatriation, lost travel documents or money problems.
We were the first company in Hong Kong to provide instant cash assistance through any branch of the Bank of East Asia.
The public has also been made more aware of travel insurance through the recent government campaign featuring television celebrity Dodo Cheng.
The average insurance plan these days is for five days, and costs from $150 to $200. People are happy to pay that. It is only a piece of paper but it represents security through our slogan 'Total Protection For You'.
Most of our travel insurance policies are sold through travel agents. Our network extends to 800 agents, out of about 1,200 in Hong Kong, so we have a marvellous distribution network.
Maintaining a leading position means a lot of creative thinking, coming up with innovative ideas to stay in tune with the buying public and their changing travel habits. We have introduced some cutting-edge business tools, including an e-business website for agents and business partners to instantly purchase insurance online, and another site for the public.
More recently we launched vending machines at every KCR station from Hunghom to Lowu, as well as the Macau and China ferry terminals. You can buy insurance on your Octopus card in seconds for just $10 a day. It covers the basics of emergency service and repatriation for medical attention.
The vending machines recently earned the company two awards for innovative technology. We plan to introduce them at the airport soon.
My job also involves maintaining good relations with a wide range of people to maintain our market position - travel agents, tour operators, airlines, banks, bus companies and various intermediaries. This requires strong communication skills. We are in a people business.
After the Boxing Day tsunami, a lot of people were reluctant to travel. There was a 20 per cent drop virtually overnight. Hong Kong tourists started going to the mainland, Japan and South Korea instead of Thailand and Malaysia. But it's getting back to normal.
Before the tsunami only about 30 to 40 per cent took out travel insurance. The rate is now up to 60 to 70 per cent.
