"I think tourism will continue to evolve, and it has become a vector for change, for economic development, for bringing people closer together."
Yann Richard, Chapka Sales Director
When planning a trip, insurance may seem like just another detail. But it's essential if you want to leave with peace of mind. Chapka stands out as a major player in travel insurance, offering comprehensive solutions adapted to all types of travelers, whether you're a seasoned globetrotter, an expatriate or an occasional vacationer. As a partner of Visamundi since 2019, we went to meet Yann Richard, its Sales Director...
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, Chapka and its main mission?
Yann Richard, I've been Chapka's Sales Director for 4 years. For the record, I joined Chapka on Monday March 16, 2020, the day before the first lockdown... after a long stint in the tourism industry (Club Med in France and abroad, Asia...).
Today, Chapka employs 52 people, all based in Paris. We are an insurance broker established 22 years agoThe company was founded in April 2002 by Geoffroy Bonnet-Eymard, the owner, who is still with us today. The company was bought out 5 years ago now, in 2019, by an American broker called AON, which doesn't just do travel, it does a whole range of other types of insurance: from damage to SNCF trains, to Lidl's hangar, to the space station, to Mr Musk's satellite and a large number of companies, whether for damage cover, mutual insurance and provident cover for employees, cyber protection in particular for start-ups very involved in the Internet field. We insure damage to hotels, for example, in connection with tourism, and Chapka really takes care of tourism. Here we provide insurance, mainly travel insurance: cancellation to cover pre-trip risk and assistance to cover on-trip riskI'll come back to this later, as it's what unites us with Visamundi. We also have professional insurance, i.e. civil liability for professionals, financial guarantees and civil liability for corporate officers, all of which are guarantees that companies may need.
50 employees, 1 million 200,000 policyholders, and what's special about Chapka is that all our employees are based here: the customer service department, which answers customers by phone or email, is based here, as is the claims department, which handles cancellations and luggage assistance, for example... So we're very responsive.
How did the partnership between Chapka and Visamundi come about?
From memory, we exchanged for the first time before the 2019 edition of IFTM Top Resawhere we met. Visamundi wanted to add an insurance product to its visa service for travelers. We started working in affiliation, and today we're in sales tunnel.
How does this partnership benefit travelers?
I think there are several elements. First, we have a expertise You have the travel expertise, we have the product expertise, so we're able to set up specific products, such as the Cap Assistance Visa product to enable travelers to obtain a visa certificate when they apply for their insurance. Secondly, the IT aspect. We're very strong in IT, and I think we bring that to the table. fluidity to Visamundi customers. We also bring a certain safetyIn other words, we bring an insurer's brand name, we bring a system that is hyper-fluid in IT terms, and so the customer who comes to Visamundi will have his visa on one side, and will have his insurance certificate on the other, all in the same package. Then, efficient tools, that's the basis, but it's important to reiterate it. Data transfer is also extremely important.
At Chapka, do you have any other medium/long-term ambitions for your partnership with Visamundi?
It can be the Schengen Visa productand the company's product with the Cap Mission and Cap Mission Tempo !
There's a lot of traffic on the Schengen Visa, and a real business is being done. Now, if we could have a partner with the capacity to sell this type of product to non-Schengen countries, we'd clearly want to implement this ambition. And it's a real challenge for you and for us to get even more volume this way. There are also the human aspect ! There's a good connection and I think there's a lot to be done, we thought we'd probably write some B2C and B2B actions together.
What do you think is the added value of Visamundi?
As far as I'm concerned, there are several points. sales dynamism. Then I think you have a real expertise in visas and it's complementary to our insurance expertise, so we're on the same wavelength. The tools It's also something we all agree on. And I have the feeling that safety is also important to you. It's all part of values that we share.
What is Chapka's vision for the next 5 years, in an ever-changing tourism sector?
Over 5 years it's complicated, and then we've had the last 4 years Covid... we know we're always between 2 crises, and that's something I've been seeing since September 11, 2001. I've been in tourism since 1987, there was the Gulf War in 90-91, there were a few phenomenal events, and then there was 2001. 2001 is really, to use the title of Alexandre Adler's book "The day I saw the world change".. We've already seen it change with the mass of the event, the media mass of the event, and since then, we've always had crises. Not that there weren't crises before, but today they're much more widely publicized, with news channels and social networks, which has amplified all crises, so that a crisis that flew under the radar 25 years ago can't fly under the radar now. Right now, the slightest crisis is amplified, which means it has an impact on travelers, and forces us to be agile. This evolution means that we'll be moving forward on a rollercoaster ride, and that's the first element.
Secondly, there is galloping inflation and travel, which used to be a luxury, then democratized with charters, will once again become a luxury. Even if 60 years ago, travel wasn't as essential as it is today, overall it's going to widen the divide between the privileged people we're part of, because we've got a job, a roof over our heads, because we're in good health and we travel, and part of the population who can't afford to travel... so it's going to create elements of stress, but overall the tourism sector is going to evolve.
Do you the "green", ecological impactwill be taken into account? I think so, by the younger generation. We see it internally: "I take the train more than the plane", "I come to the office by bike or on foot".... it's going to have an impact, and in the same way, all those Instagrammable destinations, they'll always exist, but I think there's going to be a tendency to think outside the box. The big companies will always be there (like TUI, for example), the cruise lines will also work, and then on the side. there will be plenty of small businesses developing local tourism, tourism that respects local populations. Air travel: never before have so many planes been sold, never before has Airbus had such a large order book. So I think that tourism will continue to evolve, and it's become a change agentIt also brings business and economic benefits to the countries concerned (Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, etc.).
And the impact of all this on Chapka, how do you think it will be formalized?
The first thing is that over the past 4 years, customers have become aware of the need for insurance.very clearly. The younger generation travels a lot more when they leave school, during their gap year. And I know people who have spent 40 years in a company, but now we stay there between 3 and 4 years, then move around for 3 months on a trip. You stay for 5 years, then move around for 6 months on unpaid leave.
What will the impact of telecommuting in the long term? I don't know. I see people having a great time telecommuting, and I see others who need collegiality, who need to get together. But you see, we were talking about human exchanges when we travel, and I think that in business relationships, the telephone, emails and video exchanges are all very well, but there comes a time when you need to sit down around a table, over a good breakfast, to share, to exchange, to create links... that's really important.
Thanks, Yann. Anything to add?
In any case, travelers will need visas ! Because even if in Europe you don't need a visa anymore, there are quite a few countries where you do, so the business model is there. And there's a lot we can do together, we've already written the first pages, we're now going to move on to different chapters to increase all that, and there's no reason why it shouldn't work!
*Chapka offers the Cap Tempo Expat telecommuting product, which Visamundi promotes in its service. Nomamundi.
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