As the EU announces another federal system, the so-called Digital Green Passport, to address the problem of air travel in the future, insurers will probably end up having to carry out vaccine checks to offer valid travel insurance. Generali has already taken the leap;
Generali Global Assistance and its affiliated companies (“GGA”) has announced that it will be supporting upcoming smart vaccination and digital health pass initiatives by adding custom options to their Travel Insurance offerings and endorsing the Good Health Pass and the World Health Organization’s (“WHO”) Smart Vaccination Certificate Working Group initiatives.
Generali Global Assistance, one of the leading travel insurance and service provider organizations, according to U.S. News & World Report, will tailor certain travel insurance offerings to accommodate numerous new entry requirements across the globe. GGA also endorses various smart vaccination and digital health pass initiatives that provide customers with a reliable source of information for continuously-changing country requirements. Successful implementation of these initiatives will allow travellers to verify their coverage prior to departure and give them an opportunity to update certain coverage limits, such as medical coverage, in accordance with the destination country’s requirements. GGA will also continue covering epidemic-related illnesses as a covered reason to cancel or interrupt a trip, along with reimbursements for emergency medical care, emergency medical transportation, change fees, and loyalty points redeposit fees.
Chris Carnicelli, CEO of Generali Global Assistance, commented on the news, “As a travel insurance provider, we want to play a leading role in creating a seamless travel experience for our customers. As a result, we chose to endorse some of the leading smart vaccination and digital health pass initiatives while tailoring our offerings to accommodate the growing number of new entry requirements around the globe. We look forward to adding value to these cross-sector initiatives by leveraging our extensive experience mitigating risks for individuals and institutions to help facilitate the return of international travel and reinvigorate the global economy.”
IATA PASS
Meanwhile IATA are working on an open source travel pass system, so that all airlines can access a database that shows passenger vaccine status. The IATA pass is more sensible than the EU Digital Green idea, since it applies to people who want to fly – not all EU citizens, many of whom don’t wish to fly, or cannot do so as they can’t afford it.
IE COMMENT: THE POLITICS OF TOURISM WILL UNRAVEL DIGITAL GREEN
Med countries like Greece, Spain, Italy, Tunisia, Egypt and others all rely on tourism as a big percentage of GDP. Several have already said they will accept travellers with a negative test, no vaccine proof required. Understandable given that most people under 50 don’t actually NEED a vaccine for Covid, they are extremely unlikely to die from Covid-19 which only has a fatality rate of 0.4% for ALL people of all ages.
This harsh economic reality will collide with the inevitable need EU politicians have to try and dream up new rules and laws to justify their empire. Digital Green is really a method of preventing travel, not enabling it – that’s why the word Green is in there.
People in Spain, Cyprus, Malta, Greece and many other countries face mass unemployment if the holiday industry cannot be revived later in 2021. The governments of those countries will find ways to enable travel regardless of the Digital Green passport – guaranteed. Fact is, they need the money badly, in Spain for example tourism accounts for 10% of its GDP.
At some point the travel industry itself, including travel insurers, will have to develop a way of checking, and managing the highly sensitive medical data, of millions of air passengers every year. Ultimately only airlines and insurers can complete this task because the fiasco over the AZ vaccine proves that the EU cannot even order and distribute a vaccine, never mind check and administer the details of 440 million people.
It is going to get worse, before it gets better.
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