The travel industry is at an inflection point. From AI transforming booking experiences to shifting consumer expectations around digital-first services, the conversation at Skift Global Forum 2025 promises to be as dynamic as the industry itself. That's exactly why Sure's Leo Cardone and Alex Sklar will be joining "The Most Powerful Room in Global Travel" September 16-18 in New York City.
Why Skift Global Forum matters now
This year's theme, "Travel 2030: People, Platforms, and New Paths Forward," captures something essential about where the industry is headed. While travel companies have mastered the art of getting customers from point A to point B, the real opportunity lies in what happens during that entire journey. The brands that win in Travel 2030 will be those that own the complete customer experience, not just the transaction.
For the embedded insurance world, this couldn't be more relevant. Every travel booking represents a moment when customers are already thinking about protection for their trip, their belongings, their plans. The question isn't whether travelers want insurance; it's whether they can get it seamlessly from their airline, hotel chain, or travel booking platform without being redirected to unfamiliar insurance websites.
The embedded opportunity in travel
The travel industry has always excelled at orchestrating complex experiences, coordinating flights, accommodations, activities, and logistics into seamless journeys. This expertise in experience design makes travel companies uniquely positioned for embedded insurance success.
Consider the natural alignment: travelers are already in a planning and protection mindset during booking. They're thinking about trip value, potential disruptions, and peace of mind. Rather than treating insurance as a separate purchase decision, embedded insurance integrates protection seamlessly into this existing mental framework.
The opportunity extends beyond convenience to genuine value creation. Trip cancellation coverage that activates during the booking confirmation process. Baggage protection integrated with airline check-in systems. Travel medical coverage that coordinates with destination-specific requirements and automatically adjusts coverage based on planned activities.
What makes this particularly compelling for travel companies is the natural trust relationship. When customers choose you to plan their most important journeys (honeymoons, family reunions, business trips), they're already demonstrating confidence in your judgment and expertise. Embedded insurance builds on this foundation rather than competing with it.
What Sure hopes to learn at Skift
Skift Global Forum represents a unique concentration of travel industry decision-makers grappling with the future of customer experience and revenue optimization. The conversations happening around AI transformation, platform evolution, and changing consumer expectations directly parallel the challenges embedded insurance can help solve.
We're particularly curious about how travel executives are approaching the balance between technological innovation and customer trust. Our decade of building embedded insurance programs across Fortune 500 companies has taught us that the most successful integrations feel invisible to customers while delivering measurable business outcomes. This philosophy seems especially relevant for an industry where seamless experience is fundamental to brand value.
The timing feels particularly strategic. Travel companies are investing heavily in platform modernization and customer experience enhancement. Embedded insurance fits naturally into this transformation, not as an add-on service, but as an integral part of how modern travel companies deliver comprehensive value to their customers.
The technology advantage
The travel industry's sophisticated understanding of customer journey optimization creates unique opportunities for embedded insurance integration. Travel companies already excel at presenting relevant options at the right moments: upgrade offers during check-in, activity recommendations based on destination, loyalty program benefits tailored to travel patterns.
Embedded insurance operates on the same principles, but with protection-specific intelligence. Dynamic pricing that adjusts based on destination risk profiles, weather patterns, and trip complexity. Parametric triggers that automatically process claims for flight delays or weather events. Integration with existing loyalty programs to reward customers who choose comprehensive protection.
After building embedded insurance platforms for a decade, we've learned that success depends less on the sophistication of the insurance products and more on how naturally they integrate into existing customer workflows. The travel industry's expertise in experience orchestration makes it particularly well-suited for this type of integration.
Let's connect in New York
If you're attending Skift Global Forum 2025 and are curious about how embedded insurance could fit into your customer experience strategy, Leo Cardone and Alex Sklar would welcome the opportunity to connect. Whether you're exploring new revenue streams, thinking about customer retention, or simply want to understand how embedded insurance works in travel, we'd love to continue the conversation that Skift Global Forum is sure to inspire.
The future of travel isn't just about getting customers to their destination. It's about being their trusted partner for the entire journey. That includes the protection they need along the way.
Attending Skift Global Forum 2025?
Leo Cardone and Alex Sklar from Sure will be there September 16-18. Schedule a meeting to discuss how embedded insurance can enhance your travel customer experience while creating new revenue opportunities.
Can't make it to Skift?
Learn more about Sure's embedded insurance platform for travel companies or schedule a conversation about travel protection that works within your brand experience.
