Interview: Erick Morazin
Erick Morazin, Founder and CEO of The Collaboration & Partnership Lab, talks to Michelle Royle about his career, the globalisation of the industry, and the importance of partnerships
You have been in the travel insurance industry for quite some time, during which you worked with Allianz and AXA. What do you think are the biggest changes that have happened in the industry in the last 10 years?
When I joined Mondial Assistance (now Allianz Partners) in 2005, it was a continuation of my initial career in the travel industry. I already had 18 years in travel, in sales and management roles with Brittany Ferries and Travelport-Galileo (a global distribution system for the travel industry). And now, after nearly 20 years in travel insurance, I still have the same feeling of being part of the global travel industry – delivering products and services to travellers and helping them to enjoy their trips. Travel insurance is going one step further, supporting travellers before, during and after their trip in case of incident or major issue.
For me, the biggest changes in the industry were between 2005 and 2015 with the consolidation and the digitalisation of the travel industry supported by the development of the internet. It was a revolution for travel insurers, affecting the distribution channels (from mainly offline to online), the products, and forcing them to develop dedicated technologies to address the online market. There was, at the same time, a massive globalisation of the travel industry, forcing travel insurers to change their organisation from many local entities to global teams managing multinational partnerships.
During the last 10 years, these trends have been developing further, covering all countries, all segments of the market and all distribution channels. The providers who weren’t able to negotiate the digital revolution 15 years ago are no longer playing a major role in the industry.
What have been the biggest challenges that the industry has faced in recent years?
The travel ecosystem is familiar with crisis. For me, it started with the first Gulf War in 1990, massively affecting the industry for several months. I have seen a lot during the past four decades, including a tsunami in Asia in 2004 and the first Arab Spring in 2010. The most recent one is of course the Covid-19 pandemic – the biggest challenge the industry has faced so far.
What learnings has the industry embraced since the pandemic?
The Covid-19 crisis demonstrated that travel insurers could continue to provide their services in a very difficult environment (airports closed, airlines not operating, shortage of medical facilities…). They had to rescue desperate travellers stuck abroad, some of them affected with the virus. Most of the providers were able to operate successfully despite these adverse conditions.
There was a price for these successes. Not all travel insurers anticipated such crises and many, especially small and medium organisations, not fully dedicated to travel insurance and medical assistance, decided to stop operating or reduced their exposure.
Several global and specialised providers tested the resilience of their business models. The top four organisations, totalling nearly half of the travel insurance market, emerged even stronger from the crisis, showing very impressive growth during the last three years post-Covid.
You are the Founder and CEO of The Collaboration & Partnership Lab. Please can you tell us more about the company and what you do?
When I came back to France at the end of 2022 after 18 years in global sales roles for travel insurance (including seven years in Singapore and three years in the UK), I decided to create my own consultancy company in order to help travel organisations and financial institutions to improve the development of their ancillary revenues (especially travel insurance and assistance) across all countries with relevant technologies, products and services.
Travel insurance is becoming very complex with increased regulation across all jurisdictions, and constant product innovation supported by new technologies such as parametric insurance. The goal of the company is to help all stakeholders of the value chain to improve their models, organisation, products, distribution, technologies…
We have had a very strong relationship with Generali-Europ Assistance since 2023, and we are supporting some startups developing new services. Travel, loyalty and travel insurance or assistance are the common denominator of all our activities.
Why is it important to have strong partnerships and networks in this industry, and what can businesses do to find the right people to partner with?
We are evolving in a very small world, with travel and travel insurance industries massively concentrated. When you have been working for over 38 years in these industries, you know many people who have been colleagues, competitors, clients or partners. Many of them are now friends, and I take a lot of pleasure in meeting them regularly in business meetings, at conferences or at events dedicated to our industry.
Part of my added value is to understand the ecosystem and answer some of the main questions and concerns the industry has: what do travel organisations and financial institutions need and what are they looking for? What are their goals in the distribution of travel insurance and assistance products and services? What are their issues? How can we help them? Which innovations are meaningful for them now and later? How to embed these innovations into a great and constantly improved traveller’s experience? Supported by which technologies?
New technology is changing aspects of the industry. What tech should travel insurance companies look to embrace as they move into the next few years?
The main innovations we are currently seeing are a mix of new products or new benefits for the travellers, embedded into an improved customer experience leveraging agile technologies. This is the sort of Spotify or Netflix of the travel insurance and assistance business. This is not yet disrupting the market and we will need more time to ensure travellers will adhere to it. But there are some interesting trends we are following carefully.
What’s next for The Collaboration & Partnership Lab?
To continue to do what we like and do well! Supporting our clients and partners in global travel insurance and digital.