On January 1, 2017, Zhangzhongbao 360 Online, an Internet insurance platform of Hanhua Financial Holding, launched an insurance product, named as "Safe Tourism Insurance", aiming at the risk of tourist consumption fraud. It is an innovative insurance product jointly developed by Zhangzhongbao 360 Online and Liberty Mutual Insurance Group (USA), with an aim at paying for "tourist consumption fraud" in tourist consumption scenarios such as travel agencies, hotels, air tickets, scenic spots, caterings, entertainment, etc. If buying the "Safe Tourism Insurance", the tourist will be compensated with different amount if he or she is ripped off in the agreed destination cities as well as within the specified range.

Attack directly the tourist consumption fraud

With the rise of the tourism industry, rip-offs and frauds in the tourist consumption occur frequently, such as "pricey prawn scam", "extremely expensive fish", "hitting car to get tourists" and "puncturing tires to get tourists", as well as the reported "compulsory consumption by stopping cars", "chasing tourists" and other similar incidents occurring on the National Day. All not only adversely affect the environment of tourism destinations, but also restraint the healthy development of tourism industry in China.

From the perspective of insurance, rip-off in the tourism industry is a controllable risk, and can be prevented by buying associated insurance. At the same time, the introduction of commercial insurance makes the information of tourism fraud more transparent and provides a data base for further prevention of tourism fraud.

It is said that "Safe Tourism Insurance" is the first insurance product against rip-off in China. Its coverage includes the following aspects: 1. To provide comprehensive security for tourists. "Safe Tourism Insurance" will make compensations for the property losses caused by rip-off, so as to make travel more relaxing and pleasant. 2. To utilize big data to build a faithful tourist map. The data will be gradually accumulated, improved and modified according to the tourism frauds identified by local tourism departments, and provided to the competent tourism departments. 3. To promote the healthy development of the tourism industry.

 "Safe Tourism Insurance" can reduce the negative impact of rip-off to a certain extent, promote the improvement and upgrading of the tourism industry, and improve the services so as to promote the healthy development of the tourism industry.

Referring to the product design, Zhang Cheng, CEO of Zhangzhongbao 360 Online, said, "We advocate innovation, but innovation cannot be contrary to the insurance principle, let alone the interests of consumers." He pointed, "In recent years, there were a great number of innovations of Internet insurance, and those "gimmick insurances" aiming to obtain high clicks ratio are at variance with the essence of insurance to prevent and control risks from inside. This product has been investigated and discussed for many times by the Insurance Association of China, tourism committees, tourism practitioners and insurance companies. We decided to insist on this orientation after getting the approval of competent departments. We do hope that the application of this product will reduce the risks of domestic tourists, and the data collected will provide a data basis for the tourism management department to standardize the order of the local tourism market and improve the tourism environment."

It is reported that "Safe Tourism Insurance" is a key product developed by the Online Team of Hanhua Zhangzhongbao 360 to prevent against rip-off. In the future, there will be more innovative, targeted, personalized and cost-effective insurance products on the basis of tourism, consumption, medical treatment, health and other scenarios.

How to settle claims

How to settle the claim in case of fraud? In order to deal with the follow-up issues of claims, the claim application of insurance product will be accepted by the platform and reviewed by the insurance company, and the specific claim will be paid by the insurance company. Zhang Cheng said, "Due to the huge tourism market, it is difficult to identify some frauds and submit the claim application. We will carry out related tourism public welfare activities to allow customers to fully understand and experience the product, the platform will assist customers in coordination and supervision, and the insurance company will settle claims. The product will be continually improved by overcoming difficulties and upgrading".

As for how to calculate the premium that everyone concerns about, according to the actuarial results, the premium is RMB 0.2 per day for the option of RMB 500, RMB 0.5 per day for the option of RMB 1,000, and RMB 1 per day for the option of RMB 2,000. The low price will allow more tourists to obtain the affordable insurance. "We hope to provide an insurance product that allows customers to buy easily, with sufficient coverage and simple claims settlement. Cost performance is the guarantee that users can pay for it", said the person in charge of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, "The current price is the best result obtained through careful calculation by the actuary department."

In addition, the tourism public welfare activity "Safe Tourism, Quality Service" will be held with the launch of "Safe Tourism Insurance". It is said that the activity is jointly initiated by Zhangzhongbao 360 Online, Elong and Beijing Talktour, with the support from the local competent authorities of popular tourism destinations in Hainan, Jilin, Dalian, Guilin, Xiamen, etc. to publicize the concept of quality travel and promote the destinations of quality travel to tourists, and present 300,000 Safe Tourism Insurances to tourists. The tourists can get the "Safe Tourism Insurance" product with sum insured of RMB 1,000 for free from the activity platform Elong, official WeChat of Zhangzhongbao 360 Online, and the official websites of the tourist offices of the cities participating in the activity.