Following the news that more insurance companies are withdrawing travel cover related to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19);

Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on the situation:

“Travel insurance providers are under colossal pressure, as are all travel related industries, yet the decision to remove COVID-19 related cancellation policies and cover for future bookings may cause a further downturn. 

“Pent-up demand is undoubtedly one of the effects that will emerge post-pandemic and what many a travel company is in fact depending on to get through these dark times. Envisioning a surge in travel bookings offers that respective ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ amid the current shutdown of global travel. 

“At a time when consumer uncertainty is already rife due to global travel restrictions and social distancing, the prospect of not being covered or failing to find an appropriate travel provider will not aid the tourism industry.

“Travelers that booked within a specific time frame are still covered; it is future bookings, that travel operators are already heavily depending on, that will be jeopardized.”