Travel insurance covers volcanoes

TORONTO Canadian travellers who are stranded in Europe by the volcanic ash cloud are not necessarily out of pocket if they began their journey with travel insurance, but they need to check their policies. The team answering calls at RBC Insurance is running "full out," a company executive said this week.

"If people have purchased cancellation and interruption insurance in their travel insurance, whether it be in a package or stand-alone basis, they're likely to have some type of benefit related to this particular event, the volcanic ash volcano in Iceland," said Tim Bzowey, vice-president of travel.

Silvana Aceto, speaking for the CAA south-central Ontario office in Thornhill, said her region has been dealing with 58 passengers who are stuck in Europe, and who booked trips through the company.

RBC Insurance has had contact with a "significant number" of people in Europe, but Bzowey couldn't offer an exact count.

It's all hands on deck at the 24-7 insurance office, he said.

"Thankfully we're accustomed to crises in the travel business, whether it's a tour operator failure or an airline failure, SARS, H1N1, 9-11, earthquakes, tsunamis -- these are all events that have happened in the recent past ... but every time one of these comes up, it's a little bit different.

"And I never in my career would have anticipated a volcano in Iceland would be an issue for us."

Any RBC policyholder currently in Europe and unable to get home when they planned will automatically have their coverage extended, he said.

"There's been no additional cost for that."

There is an allowance to cover meals, accommodation, phone calls, taxis and car rental, with the deluxe package allowing for a maximum of $700 to be spent.

Bzowey agreed that the money "absolutely isn't" going to last a traveller long if they need a hotel room for five days.

"This is why these situations aren't easy and we want to get people home as soon as practically possible," he said.

In most cases, the $700 is more than enough when the main goal is to get a client home as quickly and safely as possible, the company said. Bzowey commended the airlines for doing "the best they can in a difficult situation."

"We're encouraging all of our clients to check with their airline, check with their tour operator, make sure that communication is open because the situation is quite dynamic, and what might be the situation today could be very different tomorrow," he said.

The same goes for Canadians stuck on this side of the pond who booked their flights to Europe prior to April 15.

They need to talk to the airline and tour operator about changing their dates if the ash situation improves, Bzowey said, and if that's not possible, then they need to open a claim.

Qantas Says Rising Global Economy Boosts Business Travel Demand

Australia's biggest carrier, said an improving global economy is feeding a recovery in business demand while leisure travel remains strong in the face of increased borrowing costs.

"We are seeing very strong leisure demand despite interest rates having gone up," Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said in an interview broadcast on Sky Business Channel today. "We're still seeing the business market recovering because confidence is returning to the business sector."

The Reserve Bank of Australia signaled it is likely to raise borrowing costs further after increasing its benchmark interest rate to 4.25 percent on April 6, the fifth advance in seven months. Sydney-based Qantas is increasing capacity as domestic economic growth and gains in the Australian dollar spur travel demand.

"We had expected the business market to return, and our intakes in terms of business traffic have been strong as we had been expecting," Joyce, 43, said.

Rates 'not affecting leisure travel'

Rising interest rates have not affected leisure travel on Qantas, the national carrier's chief executive says.

Qantas Airways Ltd CEO Alan Joyce said higher interest rates would be expected to have a negative effect upon discretionary spending and therefore impact leisure travel rather than business travel.

"(But) if you look at how robust the economy is, we are seeing very strong leisure demand despite interest rates having gone up," Mr Joyce told Sky Channel's Sunday Business program.

"We're still seeing the business market recovering because confidence is returning to the business sector, people are travelling again.

"So while we always have to keep an eye on the impact on discretionary expenditure, we're certainly not seeing any impact on our leisure traffic or on our business traffic as a consequence of that."

Mr Joyce said outbound tourism had been "pretty strong" given the strength of the Australian dollar.

The business market was "returning".

"We had expected the business market to return, and our intakes in terms of business traffic have been strong as we had been expecting," Mr Joyce said.

However, the United Kingdom and United States markets were still relatively weak.

"The UK market, with the economy there, will probably take a bit longer the recover," Mr Joyce said.

"The US market: there is some strength there. It's stronger than the UK but still weak relative to the pre-GFC (global financial crisis) level.

"But Qantas is comfortable that the improvements that we were expecting are occurring, and they are occurring at the rate that we were expecting."

In February, Qantas Airways reported its lowest first half net profit in at least a decade, did not pay an interim dividend and said its major overseas markets remained weak.

Qantas posted a $58 million net profit for the six months to December 31, down 72 per cent from $210 million in the prior corresponding period.

Eco-tourism burned by SWC

Pretoria - For certain sectors of the local tourism industry, the Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament is bad news.

High prices for airline tickets and other services, as well as large numbers of other visitors, have scared off prospective clients, several business people told Sake24 last week.

Corporate travel, moreover, is expected to come to a standstill for about 12 weeks around the tournament.

Various tourism businesses will find the 2010 winter a dismal season.

Paul Stones of Paul Stones Safaris Africa says he usually receives nine to 11 Safari groups during the winter season. Only two are coming this year.

Stones says hunters make their bookings as much as a year or two ahead. The markets from which they are sourced include the US, Britain, Germany, Russia and Spain.

Prospective visitors are restricted in their choice of airlines because only some permit travellers to bring their firearms along. The South African regulatory system makes it almost impossible to hire a firearm here.

Stones says when hunters wanted to make their reservations, they found that airline tickets and accommodation had become very expensive.

Although cheaper flights have been available since January, these people have already decided on other destinations.

Another factor weighing with hunters is that on arrival at the airport they have to get a temporary gun licence.

The prospect of going through this process at an airport overrun by soccer fans has scared off many prospective clients.

For Americans, in particular, hunting safaris are a way to celebrate one's graduation. This happens once in a lifetime and, if that client is lost, the opportunity has gone forever. What is more, these clients come hunting during their summer vacation and at no other time of the year.

Stones says an average hunting package lasts 10 days. A couple - with the man coming to hunt and his wife accompanying him - might spend $27 000 to $30 000.

Adri Kitshoff, CEO of the Professional Hunters' Association of South Africa (Phasa), says that only after the hunting season will it be possible to assess the full impact on the industry.

The 2007/08 income from game hunting and day fees was almost R1bn. This excluded taxidermy, transport and a wealth of other expenditure.

The industry provides work for some 70 000 people, and there are almost 10 000 registered game-hunting farms in the country.

Peter Lawson of Lawson Birding & Wildlife Tours says his industry is suffering just as much.

Lawson's clients, which come to view birds, butterflies, dragonflies or other wildlife, mostly come from the US, the UK and Europe. He generally manages up to six tours during June and July, but this year there has been only one booking. Groups - generally eight to 10 people - are now also smaller with only four or five. But things look better for later in the year.

He also blames higher prices for the decline in reservations and says people must realise that tourists are not obliged to come here. They can choose to go anywhere in the world.

According to a recent Department of Trade and Industry report on bird-watching tourism, foreign birdwatchers spend considerably more than other tourist types. Their average expenditure per visit is R38 652.

Another segment that has practically ground to a halt for the tournament weeks is business travel, says Natalia Thomson, editor of Travel News Weekly.

Various large companies have placed a moratorium on travel while the matches are being played.

Tourvest Travel Services CEO, Morné du Preez. told Travel News Weekly that corporate travel is expected to come to a standstill for 10 to 12 weeks around the tournament, which means that 2010 will itself probably not be a good year.

Source: fin24.com