The new wave of disruption and the evolution in insurance services for the Italian travel sector

New technologies, innovative and disruptive, are leading to the emergence of a new way of operating. Comprehensiveness and experience also dominate consumers' purchasing decisions in the travel industry. A constantly evolving sector, where the mix of mobile devices, big data and artificial intelligence will transform the overall market. A high expectations market for consumers, now facing a new wave of "disruption" (Di Trapani, 2018) will have a huge impact on all players and, of course, on the traditional business models. The purpose of this paper is to examine in further detail the changing behaviour of tourists/consumers, which becomes more hybrid (prosumer) and, at the same time, investigate the relationships between insurance companies, which necessarily have to pursue a "seamless" experience, with no solution of continuity between the real and the virtual. Prosumer embraces the mobile internet and virtual mobility, and perpetual connectivity, as well as accessing the "anytime, anyway, anywhere" services, thus increasing frequency and switching the interaction with the tourism industry. This is something that forcing insurance companies to rethink the customer journey in a "seamless experience" approach, an all-in round experience that ensures customers are able to use physical and digital services on a seamless scale. In Italy, too, multi-channel services are increasingly widespread. The purchase process is finalized by 60% of people over 14 years of age through a mixture of conventional and digital touchpoints, with multi-channel access having discontinued as an occasional or optional component of customer journey (Osservatorio sulla multicanalità 2016). Italian tourists-consumers are now used to live the Internet in a logical everywhere and with a seamless view, or as a single environment composed of a multiplicity of channels. Evolutions in purchasing patterns and the interrelation with brands pose clear issues for the Insurance sector as well. With a customer journey where more and more offline and online processes mix, an integrated multi-channel approach is required to ensure a "anytime, anyway, anywhere" services, by offering a seamless daily between agency and digital experience. More than 20% of the world's 1.2 billion travellers each year seek assistance; the major insurance policy source remains security and healthcare. In a study conducted on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance - leader in travel insurance, personal care and services - it was estimated that 92.8 percent of tourists need travel insurance for simple illnesses or minor injuries while on holiday, and only 7.2 percent require medical assistance for major problems such as medical transport, surgery or orthopaedics. Travel insurance, however, remains under-used by Italians. Nearly 70% know travel coverage, but less than 15% are insured. However, it is more common for Italians insured to protect themselves in order to obtain health care, cover medical care, damage or loss of luggage and cancellation of their trip. Buyers of such policies are used to travelling frequently, primarily to long-haul destinations for extended periods. The study shows that 28.3% of Italians who purchase travel insurance are hard-travellers, 50.4% are travelling mainly to non-European destinations and 35.3% prefer to travel for longer periods of time, exceeding 14 days. The most popular policies in Italy are healthcare and medical coverage (45.9%), coverage for luggage loss or damage (36.8%) and coverage for travel cancellation (30.1%). Innovating for insurance companies means, therefore, combining the distinctive elements of the conventional approach based on physical contact in agencies with the mobility of digital services at every step of the customer journey: -Search of