Paul Walsh, spokesman for Peopl Insurance

Commenting on the CSO Household Travel Survey for Q1 2024

“This report reveals that the Irish continue to travel abroad in greater numbers – with Irish people taking 43pc more holiday trips abroad in the first three months of 2024 when compared to the same months in 2023[1].

These figures don’t capture traveller numbers over the current peak holiday travel season but the surge in the numbers of Irish people taking overseas holidays was no doubt even greater over the summer – indeed, the Dublin Airport Authority reported that every day in June saw more than 100,000 passengers travelling through Dublin Airport, with that trend continuing through July and August with demand to fly in and out of Ireland remaining extremely high[2].

These figures put back into focus how crucial it is for Irish holidaymakers to buy travel insurance – and not just as they are running out the door to the airport. Very few of us expect things to go wrong when on holiday – but it happens more often than you might like to think.

The recent Aer Lingus pilot strike, which saw the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers disrupted, is just example of how things went wrong for Irish holidaymakers this summer and underlines just how important it is to buy travel insurance at the time of booking your holiday – and to ensure that the insurance includes strike cover.

Most travel insurance policies have a prior knowledge rule which means you will usually not be covered for any claim which arises as a result of a risk which you already knew existed prior to the date of booking your trip and/or travel insurance.

Based on claims submitted by our own policyholders, a third of all claims related to cancellations prior to travel due to illness.

The most common reason for a travel insurance claim is to cover the cost of medical expenses, according to our own internal data – and a third of claims relate to illness whilst abroad.

So, it is hugely important to have good medical cover on your travel insurance policy in case you become ill or injured when abroad. With some travel insurance policies, cover for medical expenses could be €10m or €20m.”

[1] 1,539,000 outbound holiday trips in Q1 2024 versus 1,077,000 in Q1 2023

[2] As per DAA release of July 5 2024