Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
The Azerbaijan Insurers Association intends to apply compulsory insurance of incoming tourists in the country, Mustafa Abbasbayli, chairman of the association, said in an interview with Trend.
He said that presently, this mechanism is actively used in many countries.
"Compulsory insurance of tourists arriving in the country is actively applied in many countries, in particular in all developed countries,” Abbasbayli said. “We also want to make this segment compulsory. If our proposal is adopted, the regulation mechanism will be implemented through our embassies and consulates, ASAN Visa centers, as well as checkpoints of the country.”
“If Azerbaijan has a visa regime with any country, then citizens of that country will have to show insurance policy while obtaining a visa,” he said. “If there is no visa regime, the insurance policy will be checked at the border. If a tourist arrives in Azerbaijan with an insurance policy of his country, then there is no need to additionally obtain insurance policy in Azerbaijan."
Talking about the insurance of tourists leaving Azerbaijan, Abbasbayli expressed regret that it is impossible to oblige them to enter into insurance contracts.
He added that in this segment of the market, the association intends to hold events aimed at popularizing the insurance of tourists.
"In this case, we do not intend to apply compulsory insurance,” Abbasbayli said. “We just intend to increase the scope of the current travel insurance, work with travel companies for them to encourage insurance to increase sales volume.”
“There is also a social component,” he said. “As many people know, medicine abroad is much more expensive. Therefore, people who leave the country without insurance policy often face unpleasant situations. Sometimes even fatal cases happen. Therefore, in this segment we want to expand propaganda for the population to be aware of the need for travel insurance."
Presently, Azerbaijani insurance companies offer their clients travel insurance on a voluntary basis. Insurance covers only tourists who leave the country, but, unfortunately, not all citizens of Azerbaijan enter into insurance contracts during tourist trips.
According to the data of Azerbaijan's Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FIMSA), as of January-March 2018, fees for insurance of tourists amounted to 636,000 manats, while payments - 37,000 manats.
(1.7 manats = $1 on May 11)
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