ITIC will be offering attendees the opportunity to tour local medical facilities, and meet with the teams who provide medical care to international patients in the region. Transport will be provided to and from the PARKROYAL on Pickering.

Stop by the registration desk to collect your ITIC Singapore attendee bag and take the opportunity to visit the exhibitors.

Meet your fellow ITIC attendees for an evening of culture, cuisine and conversation. More details coming soon.

The global assistance sector has been asked to step up and respond in light of the recent COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. With travellers around the world unable to complete – or in some cases – start their travel, whether for work of business, the task of reorganising and repatriating where necessary has fallen to assistance providers. In this session, local and global experts will offer attendees the benefit of their experience in the latest challenge for the industry.

This session would discuss the enormous growth of digital comparison and purchase options for travel and health insurance customers in the APAC region. How are these sites serving customers and insurers? Are they transparent enough, and is there a danger they will have a downward pressure on premiums (and therefore cover) in the future, as has been the case in other regions?

What does an insurer want and need from an assistance company in remote or difficult to access regions? Is medical assistance sufficient, or should companies be thinking about how they can offer assistance services on a wider scale – ie, security services, legal assistance, etc?

Ben will offer attendees a unique insight into the traveller lifecycle, considering the needs and opportunities available to insurers to offer the right product at the right time.

Allianz Worldwide Partners will take the audience through its reaction to the devastating White Island volcanic eruption that took place late in 2019, including how assistance personnel were able to respond to clients’ calls for help. The challenges presented by the case and the unique experiences of survivors are sure to be of interest to ITIC attendees.

During this presentation, attendees will be given insights into how it felt on the ground to be caught up in the 2019/2020 Australian bushfires, looking at the response of the authorities with regards to evacuation protocols for locals and tourists, as well as the impact on travel insurers from claims for accommodation, flight alterations and destruction of belongings, as well as the longer-term health effects.

Join ITIC attendees on a funeral facility tour with Singapore Casket Company. Meet in the Hotel Lobby for a 3:30 pm and arrive at Singapore Casket Building at 4:00 pm for a welcome speech.

Following the speech, we will be introduced to Singapore Casket’s facilities and repatriation services and then split into groups to visit the funeral homes and embalming room.

Light refreshments will be provided at 5:00 pm for half an hour, after which a Q&A will kick-off at 5:30 pm.

The tour will conclude for pick up at 6:00 pm returning to the conference venue around 6:15 pm.

Please contact the Singapore Casket Company team to book your space, steventeo@singaporecasket.com.sg and jason@singaporecasket.com.sg or by phone on +65 6293 4388.

There is now a plethora of digital health platforms that allow clients to monitor their wellness levels, but how secure, stable and scalable are these solutions? How can insurers make use of this data for predictive health purposes to keep customers in better health?

New trends in technology and the respective impact on patient stay, how are hospitals and patients adapting?

What are the real figures for international patient care in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong and Singapore? Is the data available to distinguish between medical tourists and travellers/expats in need of medical care? Regardless of the kind of patient they are, how do hospitals cater to international patients, ensuring clear explanation of benefits (if it’s an insured patient), value for money, and continuity of care following discharge?

During this session, Nikita will discuss the reputational risks of industry members, the importance of online reputation in the travel industry, how to manage it, measure it, and ultimately, how to avoid loss of profit due to bad reputation management tactics.

The ITIC Medical Directors’ Forum joins the APAC agenda for the first time this year, offering attendees the opportunity to report on cases that they have dealt with and perform an after-event review. The chance to discuss medical and logistical complications of international medical assistance cases with peers is a very valuable one, and the cases this year should provide plenty of points for discussion. Cases under review: Winston Jong from EMA Global will discuss the evacuation from Vietnam to Singapore of a 22-year-old British female with generalized sepsis, acute renal failure and septic encephalopathy. Points for discussion include who makes the ultimate ‘fit to fly’ decision, what are the criteria to establish this decision, and problems associated with ECMO flights.

ITIC and Raffles Hospital are delighted to extend an invitation to all ITIC Singapore attendees to tour their facilities, and meet with the teams who provide medical care to international patients in the region. Transport will be provided to and from the PARKROYAL on Pickering.