How young travellers can avoid #HolidayFails

Travel insurer educates young Australians on the importance of getting insured in a humorous new campaign

How young travellers can avoid #HolidayFails

Insurance News

By Mina Martin

More than 70% of 18 to 29 year-old travellers engage in risky activities while on overseas vacation, and yet, they are the ones least likely to have adequate travel insurance, a 2016 DFAT/ICA survey revealed.

To address the issue, travel insurer Columbus Direct, in partnership with Student Edge, has adopted an unusual approach to get young Australians to talk about travel insurance – a video series following the group chat messages of five 20-somethings on a disaster-filled Thailand holiday, called #HolidayFails.

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“We understand travel insurance isn’t something young travellers would typically discuss over coffee,” said Antje Lauterbach, Columbus Direct’s head of marketing. “We wanted to find a way to spark some conversations, so we teamed up with Student Edge to create something young Australians would be more likely to talk about.”

“We were really pleased to partner with Columbus Direct on the #HolidayFails campaign and illustrate (with a bit of humour) how quickly holidays can go wrong if you’re not adequately prepared, especially with schoolies on the horizon,” said Student Edge's Simon Miraudo.

The four-part series showed the importance of getting insured without really talking much about insurance.

“We didn’t want to spoon-feed information or tell people what to buy,” Lauterbach said. “Our aim has been to tell a story that piques curiosity around travel insurance questions and then provide supplementary content for people to learn more. We want young travellers to think, ‘Oh, this is actually relevant to me’ and then give them the tools to find the right travel insurance cover for their future trips – be that with us or with another insurer.”

Watch the videos here.


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