World travel has become more and more tenuous simply because of a
growing range of disasters that can and have struck at the most
inopportune moments, making travel insurance an imperative.
Even though you may not be a victim of a tsunami, hurricane or act of terror, you might become embroiled in costly delays or have to outlay for accommodation and medical costs that are not factored into the holiday budget.
Risks associated with travel are on the up and up
The risks associated with local and international travel seem to be on the up and up; one only needs to open the daily broadsheets to be reminded of the growing number of attacks on tourists.
A young French school girl is gunned down in Egypt; the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team is attacked en route to the Lahore cricket ground; and, since the failed 'War on Terror', foreigners are targeted on a daily basis by fundamentalists and fanatics. The world is arguably no longer a safe place to explore and it would be remiss of anyone in this day and age not to contact an insurance broker to cover oneself with some sort of travel insurance.
It doesn't have to be an unmitigated disaster that effectively scuppers your vacation time; you may simply fall ill during your brief stay on foreign shores. Without the aid of your travel insurance partners at the holiday destination, merely finding a reputable doctor or clinic could become a real burden, especially if you do not speak the language.
Medical costs can be more painful than the injury itself
The cost of medical treatment can often turn out to be a major expense if you are not adequately covered. Simply twisting an ankle on the snow-covered slope or having a run-in with an angry bull in Pamplona may very well be painful but, if you are not insured, the costs accrued could turn out to be far more damaging than the injury itself.
Should you be unfortunate enough to get seriously injured, then an emergency evacuation home may be the only option you'd be inclined to consider, which would come at a significant cost. What of the activities, accommodation and transport you have already paid for in full?
Weather delays will become more frequent
Then there are weather delays that consistently put pressure on flight schedules. One of the busiest transport hubs in the world, Heathrow Airport near London, was brought to a complete standstill recently because of unprecedented snowfalls. Experts agree that more and more unusual weather patterns are going to arise as a direct result of carbon emissions and resultant global warming, so if you plan to travel you should be prepared for the unusual.
Personal effects habitually disappear
Luggage and personal effects in transit have a rather mysterious way of disappearing these days, even though security has allegedly been beefed up. One can only assume that there is a Baggage Island out there somewhere, where thieves are harbouring all our missing booty. Although the insured can afford to be tongue-in-cheek about the increasing incidence of theft, the uninsured traveller will not be smiling.
In the words of the Director General of Home Affairs in South Africa, Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba:
"During the past few years, we have assisted a growing number of our people who have become victims of crime, accidents, illness, death, natural/man-made disasters, civil unrest or whose family and/or next-of-kin needed to contact them in an emergency". That said, all South Africans travelling abroad are encouraged to take out travel insurance.
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