HanseMerkur travel division on course for strong growth

Hamburg and Berlin, March 6, 2023. Despite ongoing global political and economic challenges, HanseMerkur is optimistic about the tourism year 2023 and is consistently continuing its growth in the “Travel and Leisure” business segment under Cooperation and Travel Sales Board Member Johannes Ganser. The backgrounds?

• The offer is right: HanseMerkur recognized changing customer needs early on and reacted flexibly to the increased need for security with new products, such as the travel protection concept for Germany and Europe.
• The numbers are right: The premium volume in 2022 of EUR 267.6 million corresponds to an increase of 45.9% compared to 2021 and an increase of 11.8% compared to the pre-Corona year 2019. These particularly good figures from the past financial year will be also presented at the ITB 2023 in Berlin.
• The partnerships are right: HanseMerkur was able to win well-known travel companies such as Condor as new partners and expand existing cooperations.
• The trend is right: According to the current “Hand in Hand on tour” HanseMerkur travel study, Germans’ desire to travel will be unbroken in 2023 – provided the trips are well insured.

A visit to the HanseMerkur booth at the ITB | Hall 25 | Stand 124 is definitely worth it. In addition, board member Johannes Ganser and his team invite you to the traditional “HanseBrunch” on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in a relaxed atmosphere for technical discussions and a little refreshment.

Far above the market level: Premium volume increased by 45.9 percent

Although 2022 was still characterized by pandemic-related travel restrictions, the war in Ukraine and rising inflation, HanseMerkur achieved impressive results in the travel and leisure segment: the premium volume rose by 45.9% from EUR 183.4 million in the previous year to 267, EUR 6 million in 2022, which is 11.8% above the pre-corona level. In one of the divisions with the highest turnover, travel cancellation insurance, growth of 71.4% was achieved. The travel health insurance segment also grew by 26.0%. Furthermore, the premiums written in the other categories of travel accidents, luggage, third-party liability, etc. increased by 40.6%.

Board member Johannes Ganser comments on the pleasing development for HanseMerkur, which is also becoming apparent in the current year, as follows: “The decisive factor for us is the positive trend that people want to travel more again – and this as well as possible secured. With our offers adapted to the situation, we have succeeded in giving consumers back their confidence in travel, even in uncertain times, and in further consolidating our position as an expert in safe travel. It pays off that we have served people’s enormous need to catch up after vacation with flexibly designed insurance products. In addition, we have further optimized our travel insurance tariffs for Germany and Europe as well as our travel protection concept for bus operators,” says Johannes Ganser.

Outside of Germany, too, HanseMerkur is growing in the “Travel and Leisure” segment. “In Austria and Poland, we can look back on a very successful year in 2022 with a positive trend again this year and are expanding our activities here. The same applies to Switzerland, where we are also increasing our staff,” reports Vera Scheuermann, who heads the “International and Online Travel Sales” department at HanseMerkur.

Holiday 2023? Certainly!

Whether to the local coasts, to Bella Italia or on a hiking holiday in Austria – the good news is: Germans are traveling again! In the “Hand in Hand on tour” – HanseMerkur travel study, 86% of those surveyed stated that vacation 2023 was very important to them – above all “all-round security”. “The study shows that after years of the pandemic, Germans are particularly enjoying traveling again. At the same time, we have noticed that travel planning has changed in recent years under the influence of crises,” explains Johannes Ganser, board member Cooperation and Travel Sales at HanseMerkur. “Safety and health care in destinations are becoming increasingly important when choosing a destination country. In addition, health insurance has become more relevant,” says Ganser.
Whether Germany, Europe or a long-distance destination: HanseMerkur serves the increased need for comprehensive travel insurance with a wide range of offers. Among other things, the travel cancellation and travel interruption insurance offer services that are tailored to the individual wishes and needs of the traveler.

Many new collaborations and renewals of important partnerships

In any case, a recipe for success for HanseMerkur is the high level of trust that it enjoys from many travel companies. Last year, among others, Condor, Sunny Cars, KUONI Austria, Idealtours, kreuzfahrtberater.de and NTRV (New Travel Reisebüro Vertrieb) with travel brands such as Explorer Fernreisen, STA Travel or Travel Overland were added – partnerships that have proven to be win-win. “Our philosophy is to align ourselves as best we can with the individual needs of our cooperation partners. The past year has once again confirmed this for us. We are very happy about our new cooperation, especially because together we can ensure that our customers have an even more relaxed holiday,” says Katrin Rieger, Division Director Travel Sales Germany at HanseMerkur. Equally important for HanseMerkur are the partnerships, some of which have existed for many years and have been extended again.

About HanseMerkur

With an annual turnover of 3.3 billion euros (2021), HanseMerkur is the only independent insurance group in the financial center of Hamburg. The roots of the 147-year-old personal insurer lie in health insurance, which is still the main division of the company today. HanseMerkur is also a specialist for private supplementary protection for those with statutory health insurance and, with around 1.26 million people with supplementary insurance (2021), one of the largest German providers in this segment. In addition, with premium income of EUR 183 million (2021) in the travel and leisure segment, it is one of the market leaders in tourism insurance. Further information at www.hansemerkur.de