Insurance sales rise after quake

The number of travelers taking out voluntary travel insurance for overseas trips has increased, apparently as a reaction to the latest earthquake to hit Indonesia last week.

Fifty percent of tourists heading to destinations in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and the Philippines, bought travel insurance, an increase of five percent from before the earthquake, according to a Legal Mirror report.

The magnitude 8.6 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra prompted an initial tsunami warning, which was later rescinded. Many people still stuck to their travel plans, and there was little detrimental effect to the tourism industry in those countries, but more tourists and travel agencies intend to insure against potential losses by buying travel insurance, the report said.

"In the groups going to Southeast Asian destinations, which were affected by the earthquake, more than half of group members bought insurance when booking their trip," an employee from Ctrip, an online travel website, told the paper.

A service specialist surnamed Li from the Caissa Travel Agency told the Global Times yesterday that Caissa's schedules to Southeast Asian destinations has returned to normal and tourism was unaffected.

"Over the past week, the number of outbound tourists who purchased emergency insurance has increased, but I haven't been notified of the exact statistics," she said.

According to State policy, all travel agencies involved in overseas travel must purchase travel agency liability insurance to guarantee tourists' safety and compensation for any losses.

"Although emergency insurance is purchased voluntarily, we strongly recommend outbound tourists to buy when they join a trip with our company," said the publicity director, surnamed Bai, of Tongcheng, an online booking website.

He noted that previous natural disasters would serve as a warning about the consequences of unexpected disasters, so that tourists know they should purchase emergency insurance.

Many travel insurance policies offered by Chinese insurers do provide cover against natural disasters, including floods, typhoons and earthquakes.

"No matter where you go, you should buy insurance since it's a way to protect your physical health and to safeguard your financial health. You're not a god who always knows what will happen," said Li Ting, 28, a Haidian resident who is a travel enthusiast.