Travelers booking cruises continue to lean heavily on the travel advisor community for assistance, according to a summer survey of more than 1,300 Allianz Partners travel insurance customers.
The new research shared by the leading travel insurance and assistance provider on Wednesday found that booking a cruise was one of the top jobs for travel advisors booking travel for Allianz Partners customers, with 27 percent of respondents reporting that they used a travel advisor to book a cruise. That figure was second only to the 28 percent who worked with a travel advisor to book air travel.
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Age is certainly a factor, however, the data shows. Customers aged 55-84 were most likely to use a travel advisor to book a cruise, with roughly one-third of customers in that age group reporting having had a travel advisor handle their cruising itinerary. On the flip side, only 14 percent of customers aged 35-44 reported they used a travel advisor to book a cruise.
After cruises and air travel, using a travel advisor to book lodging was reported by one in five survey respondents while 16 percent have used a travel advisor to book a tour. Only 3 percent had their advisor rent a car and 6 percent used their advisor for other travel-related bookings, according to the study.
“Travel advisors remain an important resource for our customers booking cruises and we’re proud to support those travel advisors with industry-leading tools like our award-winning AgentMax travel insurance booking platform, which helps travel advisors find the best product for their client’s itinerary,” Richard Aquino, Vice President and Head of Sales at Allianz Partners USA, said in a statement. “We are also grateful that our customers find tremendous value in our products and overwhelmingly intend to purchase travel insurance again for a future trip.”
Additional survey highlights include the vast majority of respondents (91 percent) saying they would be extremely to somewhat likely to repurchase travel insurance for their next trip.
What’s more, Allianz Partners customers who booked through a travel advisor reported that their biggest concern when booking travel is a medical emergency while traveling (27 percent), followed by an illness that may impact their trip (26 percent), flight disruptions (19 percent), a COVID-related problem (13 percent), lost or damaged luggage (7 percent), severe weather (3 percent) and safety at their destination (3 percent).
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