Indonesian tourists are generally still unfamiliar with travel insurance. Do we have to buy travel insurance on every trip? The following explanation is necessary or not.


Many tourists question whether or not travel insurance is needed. Basically, travel insurance is useful to cover yourself in the event of an accident or medical disorder. Many travel insurance offered to Indonesian tourists, including AXA Travel Insurance, ACE Travel Insurance, and ACA Travel Insurance.

But actually, specific to Indonesian tourists, is travel insurance needed?

"Actually it's important, we don't know what will happen on the trip. But the type of travel insurance is different depending on needs, "said Sugiarto, Travel Insurance Product Owner of Central Asia Insurance (ACA) to KompasTravel at the 2016 Destination Europe exhibition, Balai Kartini, Jakarta, Saturday (04/09/2016).

Travel insurance is basically different from health insurance that is offered by the airline. Sugiarto said, airline insurance only covers insurance from the point of departure until the point of arrival.

"While travel insurance covers insurance during the trip," he added.

This type of travel insurance depends on two things, namely the length of the trip and the destination to be visited. All visa applications in the Schengen area require travelers to have travel insurance.

"Schengen is obliged to travel insurance. They are usually a minimum of executive types, "said Sugiarto.


Type of executive at ACA, he continued, is insurance that covers 50,000 Euros. For such insurance, you only need to pay 21 US dollars before the visa application.

"Depends on the region. "Schengen costs 21 US dollars, Asian countries cost 12 US dollars per week," he added.

Travel insurance is needed if there is an accident or medical disorder while you are abroad. Sugiarto explained several cases commonly experienced by Indonesian tourists.

"In crisis countries such as southern Europe, for example, tourists often claim being hit by a vanity or missing goods. In one case, tourists were hit by dengue fever in Greece so we covered 40,000 Euros. This is because dengue fever is not a common disease in Greece so patients must be transferred to a larger hospital, "he said.

Especially for northern European countries (Scandinavia), tourists must add travel insurance for 15 days just in case. Meanwhile, in addition to Europe, there are several other countries which according to Sugiarto need travel insurance.

"In Asia, medical costs for Japan and Korea are equivalent to European countries. Likewise the US, "he added.