With summer officially underway, InsureMyTrip has released a look at the top needs for summer travel insurance, plus the concerns of travelers hitting the road this season.
To compile this research, a team of data scientists at InsureMyTrip analyzed online traffic and buying habits in order to identify trends. InsureMyTrip analyzed internal data, customer surveys and feedback from travel experts.
InsureMyTrip estimates 80 percent of travel insurance consumers purchase a comprehensive policy.
Comprehensive travel insurance provides a variety of benefits including medical coverage, emergency travel services, baggage protection, and trip cancellation and interruption coverage.
Most Popular Destinations
This list shows the most popular summer destinations for travel outside the U.S. (June 2015 – August 2015) based off internal customer data.
1. United Kingdom
2. France
3. Italy
4. Caribbean
5. Netherlands
Summer Travel Survey
InsureMyTrip also conducted a survey that restricted the respondent pool to only US travelers who either researched or purchased travel insurance within the past 18 months. Here are the results:
Most Will Go on a Summer Vacation This Year
An overwhelming eighty-two percent said they were planning a summer vacation. Twelve percent said they had no plans yet. Six percent had no plans.
Out of those polled, 67 percent will get to their destination by air.
Prefer Staying in Hotels
42 percent will stay in a hotel
25 percent will go on a cruise
18 percent will stay in a vacation rental
10 percent prefer to stay with family or friends
4 percentile use a timeshare
Sightseeing Tops Summer Travel Activities
50 percent enjoy sightseeing the most during a summer vacation
23 percent like going to the beach or relaxing
13 percent enjoy spending time with family and friends the most
10 percent other
3 percent eating at restaurants
Travelers Booking Well in Advance
Most travelers prefer to book vacations in advance with 82 percent booking a trip more than 30 days in advance, 15 percent booking a few weeks prior to departure and three percent preferring spur of the moment trips.
Travelers Prefer to Visit New Destinations
55 percent will visit a new destination this summer
24 percent will sometimes visit the same destination
22 percent do tend to visit the same destination
More Interest in Travel to Europe
With the strong U.S. dollar, it is not surprising to find more Americans booking trips to Europe this summer and taking advantage of a bargain.
According to pricing app Hopper, the cheapest times to fly to Europe this summer are in the beginning of May and the end of August.
- June is the most popular month for European travel
- Prices peak at the end of July