I

nsurance firm Asuransi AIG Indonesia expects up to 30 percent growth in the company'€™s travel insurance business as the surge in the country'€™s tourism sector will further boost demand for travel protection.

AIG Indonesia head of travel insurance Lia Karmilawati said in Jakarta on Friday the company currently had a 60 percent share of the market in Indonesia'€™s travel insurance business, with 5 million customers registered as of last year.

'€œWe always set a target of around 20 percent to 30 percent annually and we have achieved that
range of growth in the past three and five years in terms of premium revenue and number of customers,'€ Lia told reporters on the sidelines of the 2015 Astindo Travel Fair in Jakarta.

AIG Indonesia marketing director Sonny Lambey said Travel Guard '€” the company'€™s flagship travel insurance product '€” contributed 30 percent of the total premium revenues from its consumer business line as of last year but he declined to mention the total figure due to an ongoing audit process.

In order to achieve its goal this year, Lia said the company had enhanced several features in its travel insurance products, which boasts 24-hour emergency assistance in 40 languages worldwide.

The enhanced features are, among other items, coverage expansion for customers'€™ age and length of journey, an increase in sum insured for medical costs and new protection for credit card fraud overseas.

Lia said customers could buy the product in regular and single-premium types with a wide range of prices, starting from US$5 for overseas travel and Rp 52,000 ($3.99) for domestic trips.

'€œWe provide the product in various types, such as single trip for local or overseas voyages, annually for frequent travelers, assistance for students and minor-haj [umrah] pilgrims,'€ Lia added.

Last year, the company paid out Rp 16 billion in travel insurance claims, of which 39 percent was for overseas medical expenses and 15 percent for evacuations and repatriations.

Sonny said the company would continue to promote its travel insurance products because the World Tourism Organization had found that 95 percent of Indonesian travelers, including their families, are not protected by travel insurance during their travels.

'€œThere is still significantly low awareness among customers about the importance of having travel insurance, which provides people with protection from unpleasant occurrences during their trips,'€
Sonny said.

As one of its promotion efforts, Sonny said the company was involved in travel exhibitions, such as the 2015 Astindo Travel Fair held on March 27-29 by the Association of Air Ticketing Companies in Indonesia (Astindo).

Sonny said the company was also planning to open more partnerships with other airlines this year besides its current ones with Jet Star, Singapore Airlines, Citilink and Silk Air, adding that AIG Group already had partnerships with 40 airline companies globally.

Besides airlines, Lia said the company had other distribution channels with travel agencies, individual agents and brokers as well as direct online marketing, while also seeking to develop Internet and mobile applications provided by the airlines.

'€œAt least 80 percent of all travel agents in Indonesia also have partnerships with us. We will continue improving our partnerships with them because most Indonesians still tend to buy tickets from travel agencies rather than online,'€ Lia said.