U.S. Travel Insurance Market

U.S. Travel Insurance Market Size & Forecast

Industry Outlook

The U.S. Travel Insurance Market size was valued at USD 5.98 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 7.15 billion by 2026. Looking ahead, the industry is projected to expand significantly, reaching USD 13.92 billion by 2035, registering a CAGR of 7.68% from 2026 to 2035. 

Ecosystem Analysis of the U.S. Travel Insurance Market:

Based on our examination of the U.S. market, the infographic above illustrates the country's travel insurance ecosystem through interconnected layers. The framework begins with product underwriting and diverse customer segments, which together shape market demand. From there, distribution partners and technology platforms enable seamless policy access, while data analytics and risk management inform pricing and coverage decisions. Claims and service operations, supported by global assistance networks, directly influence customer satisfaction and retention. Finally, state-level regulatory and governance structures oversee the entire system, creating a unique patchwork of compliance requirements that distinguishes the U.S. from other regional markets.

What are the Key Market Drivers, Breakthroughs, and Investment Opportunities that will Shape the U.S. Travel Insurance Market in the Next Decade?

Growth Catalyst & Risk Assessment Matrix

The travel insurance market in U.S. is primarily driven by extremely high healthcare costs abroad, which are encouraging travelers to secure comprehensive travel medical insurance for international trips. This demand is further reinforced by the growing adoption of annual multi-trip insurance plans among frequent business and leisure travelers seeking convenience and continuous coverage. However, a persistent consumer perception that domestic health insurance provides sufficient international protection continues to result in underinsurance across segments. At the same time, we noticed rising demand for specialized coverage solutions, including adventure tourism, cruise travel, and remote work-related travel insurance. Collectively, these dynamics are shaping a mature yet innovation-driven market with evolving product diversification and stable demand fundamentals.

Growth Drivers:

How are High Healthcare Costs Abroad Driving Travel Medical Insurance Demand?

NMSC research indicates that extremely high healthcare costs in international destinations are a primary driver of travel insurance adoption among U.S. travelers. Medical treatment expenses abroad, particularly in developed healthcare systems, are significantly higher and require upfront payments, creating financial risk for uninsured travelers. This cost exposure is increasing awareness of the need for dedicated travel medical coverage, especially for long-haul and multi-destination trips. Travelers are increasingly prioritizing policies that include emergency medical care, evacuation, and hospitalisation benefits. Insurers are responding by enhancing coverage limits and offering comprehensive international protection plans. Therefore, this cost-driven awareness is reinforcing travel insurance as a critical safeguard rather than an optional expense.  

How is the Growing Adoption of Annual Multi-Trip Plans Supporting the U.S. Travel Insurance Market Expansion?

The increasing adoption of annual multi-trip insurance plans is significantly supporting market growth in the U.S., as frequent business and leisure travelers are opting for these plans as they offer convenience, cost efficiency, and continuous coverage across multiple journeys within a year. Our findings suggest that this shift reflects evolving travel behaviour, where individuals are engaging in more frequent and shorter trips rather than occasional long vacations. Multi-trip plans reduce the need for repeated policy purchases and streamline travel preparation. Additionally, they provide consistent protection against medical emergencies and trip disruptions, enhancing overall travel confidence. This trend is enabling insurers to build long-term customer relationships while ensuring stable and recurring revenue streams. 

How is Increasing Demand for Specialized Travel Coverage Driving Product Innovation?

Through our market assessment, we observed that rising demand for specialised travel insurance coverage is driving significant product innovation in the U.S. market. Travelers are increasingly seeking tailored protection for specific activities such as adventure tourism, cruise travel, and remote work arrangements. Such niche segments require customised coverage features, including activity-specific risk protection, extended trip durations, and flexible policy structures. Insurers are responding by developing modular and add-on-based products that cater to diverse travel profiles and risk exposures. This shift toward specialisation is expanding the scope of travel insurance beyond traditional offerings and enabling providers to capture higher-value segments. As a result, product differentiation is becoming a key competitive factor in the market.

Growth Inhibitor:

How does Misconception Around Domestic Health Insurance Coverage Lead to Underinsurance?

In our observation, a widespread misconception that domestic health insurance provides adequate international coverage continues to limit travel insurance adoption in the U.S. Many travelers assume that their existing health plans extend globally, without fully understanding coverage limitations, exclusions, or reimbursement complexities. This lack of clarity leads to underinsurance, particularly among infrequent travelers and cost-sensitive segments. As a result, individuals remain unprotected against high medical expenses and travel-related risks abroad. This perception gap reduces voluntary policy uptake and creates challenges for insurers in communicating the value of dedicated travel insurance. Addressing this restraint requires clearer education, transparent policy communication, and targeted awareness initiatives to correct consumer assumptions. 

Growth Opportunity:

How is Rising Demand for Niche Travel Segments Creating New Insurance Opportunities in the U.S. Travel Insurance Market?

We found that the growing demand for niche travel segments such as adventure tourism, cruise travel, and remote work is creating new opportunities for travel insurance providers in the U.S. These travel formats involve unique risk profiles and longer or more complex itineraries, requiring specialised and flexible coverage solutions. Further, insurers are increasingly designing targeted products that address specific needs, including equipment coverage, trip interruption for cruises, and extended medical protection for remote workers. This evolution is enabling insurers to diversify their offerings and tap into premium customer segments. Consequently, niche-driven product innovation is emerging as a key growth lever, expanding the market beyond traditional travel insurance applications. 

How is the U.S. Travel Insurance Industry segmented in this report, and what are the key insights from the segmentation analysis?

By Income Level Insights

How Does Income Level Shape Demand Patterns in the U.S. Travel Insurance Market?

Based on income level, the U.S. travel insurance market is segmented into low-income travelers, middle-income travelers, and high-income travelers. 

Our analysis shows that the U.S. travel insurance market exhibits clearly differentiated purchasing behaviour across low-income, middle-income, and high-income traveler groups, primarily driven by affordability, risk perception, and expected coverage depth. Low-income travelers generally demonstrate price-sensitive behaviour, relying on basic, low-cost policies or bundled insurance embedded within airline tickets or credit card benefits, reflecting limited discretionary spending on standalone coverage. Middle-income travelers form a structurally important segment, with more balanced preferences toward moderately comprehensive plans that include medical, trip cancellation, and baggage protection, supported by stable travel frequency and rising awareness of financial risk exposure, while high-income travelers, in contrast, prioritize premium, high-limit policies with extensive global medical coverage, concierge services, and enhanced flexibility, reflecting higher-value travel patterns. NMSC’s findings suggest that income-based segmentation is reinforcing a tiered product ecosystem in the U.S., enabling insurers to optimize pricing strategies while expanding penetration across diverse consumer groups. 

By Coverage Type Insights

How Does Coverage Type Influence Product Structuring in the U.S. Travel Insurance Market?

Based on coverage type, the U.S. travel insurance market is segmented into medical & health coverage, trip protection coverage, asset & document protection coverage, personal accident coverage, and liability coverage. 

The U.S. travel insurance market is increasingly structured around layered risk protection, where travelers prioritize different coverage elements depending on trip purpose, destination risk, and personal exposure. Medical & health coverage remains the core demand driver, largely influenced by high overseas healthcare costs and strong emphasis on emergency medical protection for international travel. Building on this foundation, trip protection coverage is widely adopted to safeguard against cancellations, delays, and itinerary disruptions, reflecting the unpredictability of modern travel schedules. Asset & document protection coverage addresses growing concerns over loss or theft of baggage and travel documents, particularly among international travelers. Moreover, personal accident coverage further strengthens protection against unforeseen travel-related injuries, while liability coverage serves niche but important use cases involving third-party damages. Therefore, the U.S. travelers increasingly prefer integrated, multi-coverage policies, indicating a shift toward bundled protection solutions rather than isolated coverage selection. 

Competitive Landscape  

The U.S. travel insurance industry is moderately consolidated and highly competitive, supported by a mix of global insurers and specialised travel protection providers. NMSC analysis indicates that demand growth is being supported by rising international travel from the U.S., higher exposure to overseas healthcare costs, and increased awareness of risks such as cancellations, medical emergencies, and travel delays. At the same time, distribution is rapidly shifting toward digital channels, with embedded insurance offerings through airlines, OTAs, and fintech platforms improving ease of purchase and widening customer reach. 

Strategic Developments:

• October 2025- Chubb launched Travel Pro, a digital-first parametric travel insurance solution embedded into airline and OTA booking systems. It provides automated payouts for delays, weather disruptions, and medical emergencies. The launch strengthens embedded insurance adoption and improves claims efficiency across U.S. and global travel markets.

• May 2025 - Chubb and Zurich partnered with Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity to launch a USD 100 million excess casualty insurance facility. While focused on liability lines, it strengthens underwriting capacity and capital efficiency across U.S. insurance operations, indirectly supporting travel and specialty insurance risk structures.

• March 2025 - AXA launched My Trip Companion, a digital platform designed to provide real-time assistance and simplified policy management. This development addresses the growing consumer demand for mobile-first, app-based services, ensuring that U.S. travelers have instant access to medical referrals and claims processing via their smartphones.

Key Players of the U.S. Travel Insurance Market:

• Allianz Global Assistance

• Zurich Cover-More

• Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection

• Tokio Marine HCC

• Travel Insured International, Inc.

• Crum & Forster Holding Corp.

• International Medical Group, Inc.

• Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

• Starr Indemnity & Liability Company

• AXA Partners SAS

• Generali Global Assistance

• Starr Insurance Companies

• GeoBlue, Inc.

• MAPFRE S.A.

• AXIS Capital Holdings Limited 

Competition is increasingly being shaped by technology, speed of service, and integration within travel ecosystems rather than price differentiation alone. Key players such as Allianz Global Assistance, Zurich Cover-More, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, Tokio Marine HCC, Travel Insured International, and Crum & Forster are focusing on strengthening their positions through automated claims handling, improved risk analytics, and partnerships with travel and financial platforms. We further observed that insurers with strong digital infrastructure, efficient claims ecosystems, and flexible product design are better positioned to respond to evolving consumer expectations. Consequently, the market is moving toward a more embedded, platform-driven competitive structure in the U.S. travel insurance market.

Consumer Behaviour Analysis of the U.S. Travel Insurance Market:

The infographic examines how U.S. consumers move through four distinct stages when purchasing travel insurance, from initial awareness to long-term loyalty. Awareness is driven primarily by rising healthcare costs and the financial risks associated with high-value trips. As consumers enter the consideration stage, they focus heavily on medical expense coverage limits and the availability of CFAR options. Further, the purchase stage is characterised by highly digital, mobile-first channels, including embedded offerings from airlines and online travel agencies alongside credit card integrations. Ultimately, customer loyalty depends on self-service mobile platforms backed by dependable 24/7 support, making convenience and reliability the true market differentiators.

Key Segments

By Age Group

• Generation Z (18–24 years)

• Millennials (25–40 years)

• Generation X (41–56 years)

• Baby Boomers (57–75 years)

• Senior Travelers (Above 75 years)

By Income Level

• Low-Income Travelers

• Middle-Income Travelers

• High-Income Travelers

By Traveler Structure

• Solo Travelers

• Couple Travelers

• Family Travelers

• Group Travelers

By Coverage Type

• Medical & Health Coverage

  • Emergency Medical Treatment

  • Hospitalization

  • Medical Evacuation & Repatriation

• Trip Protection Coverage

  • Trip Cancellation

  • Trip Interruption

  • Trip Delay

  • Missed Connections    

• Asset & Document Protection Coverage

  • Baggage & Personal Belongings

  • Loss of Travel Documents

• Personal Accident Coverage

  • Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D)

  • Permanent / Temporary Disability

• Liability Coverage

  • Personal Liability

  • Legal Expenses Abroad

By Days Of Coverage

• Single-Trip Insurance

• Short Duration (1–7 days)

• Medium Duration (8–30 days)

• Long Duration (31–90 days)

• Extended Duration (91–180 days)

• Multi-Trip Insurance

• Annual Multi-Trip

• Frequent Business Travel Plans

By Geographic Scope

• Domestic Travel

• International Travel

By Distributional Channel

• Direct Sales by Insurance Companies

• Bancassurance (Banks & NBFCs)

• Airline & Travel Booking Platforms

• Online Insurance Aggregators & Comparison Websites

• Travel Agents & Tour Operators

By Sales Model

• Standalone Travel Insurance

• Bundled Travel Insurance

By Underwriting

• Standard Underwriting

• Simplified Issue

• Fully Underwritten

• Guaranteed Issue

By Pricing Mechanism

• Age-Based Pricing

• Destination-Based Pricing

• Duration-Based Pricing

• Risk-Based Pricing

By Policy Delivery Mode

• Online

• Offline

• Hybrid

By Value Tier

• Basic/Economy Plans

• Standard Plans

• Premium Plans

• Elite/Platinum Plans

By End-User

• Leisure & Holiday Travelers

• Business Travelers

• Education / Student Travelers

• Pilgrimage & Religious Travelers

• Adventure & Sports Travelers

• Medical Tourism Travelers

• Family & Group Travelers]        

Key Benefits for Stakeholders:

Next Move Strategy Consulting (NMSC) presents a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. travel insurance market trends, covering historical trends from 2020 through 2025 and offering detailed forecasts through 2035. Our study examines the market at regional and country levels, providing quantitative projections and insights into key growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities across all major travel insurance segments.

From our analysis of the U.S. travel insurance market, we observed a mature and highly digitalised ecosystem shaped by strong outbound travel activity and heightened risk awareness. Investors benefit from stable and diversified revenue streams supported by embedded insurance partnerships across airlines, credit card networks, and online travel platforms. In parallel, customers gain reliable financial protection against high-cost medical emergencies and unexpected trip disruptions, reinforced by increasingly seamless digital purchasing and claims processes. Policymakers, in our view, benefit from a well-regulated environment that strengthens consumer transparency, improves accountability, and supports a more resilient and trusted travel risk framework.