Insurance for travel agencies and tour operators in Germany
In a travel agency the expensive mistakes are invisible: wrong advice on a visa, a forgotten connecting flight, a booking in the wrong name. And anyone who puts trips together themselves becomes a tour operator in law and must protect customers' money against their own insolvency. This page shows what is compulsory, what makes sense and what it costs.
Am I already a tour operator if I sell a flight and hotel together?
Very often, yes. Anyone who puts together several travel services for the same trip and sells them at an overall price or in one booking process counts as an organiser under German package travel law. You are then liable for the whole trip, must protect customer payments against insolvency under § 651r BGB and issue a security certificate (Sicherungsschein). Clarify this before you combine components, because without protection you may not accept a deposit.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Wrong entry advice
Visa, passport instead of a national ID card, an entry form: if the right advice is missing, the family is stuck at the airport and wants the cost of the trip back.
02
Booking errors
Wrong date, wrong name on the ticket, a missed connection because the transfer time was too short. Rebooking and a replacement flight quickly cost four figures.
03
Suddenly an organiser
If you combine components yourself, you are liable for defects in the whole trip, from a dirty hotel to a cancelled transfer.
04
A partner goes bust
If an airline or tour operator becomes insolvent, customers are left empty handed. That is when it shows who fulfilled their duties to protect and inform.
05
Data and payments
Travel agencies store passports, dates of birth and credit cards. An attack on the booking system is a data protection breach that must be reported.
06
Closed at the counter
If the booking system fails or the office burns, you cannot sell trips, while rent and wages keep running.
For computers, printers and the till system, including power surges and operating errors.
What it costs: example prices
For pure agents, premiums are modest. It gets considerably more expensive if you organise trips yourself: then insolvency protection is added, based on your package travel turnover. With the German Travel Security Fund the fee is now 0.25 per cent of that turnover, plus a security deposit. Smaller tour operators obtain protection through insurers or banks, whose premium is set individually.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Professional indemnity
Small travel agency, about 40,000 euros turnover, 100,000 euros cover
about 200 to 400 euros a year
Professional indemnity
Travel agency with up to five employees, 250,000 euros cover
about 450 to 900 euros a year
Business liability
Travel agency acting as agent, 3 million euros cover
about 90 to 250 euros a year
Business liability
Small tour operator with its own group tours, with organiser's liability
about 600 to 2,000 euros a year
Cyber insurance
Travel agency with booking system and card payments
about 300 to 800 euros a year
For comparison: Professional indemnity and public liability for a small travel agency cost roughly as much per year as the commission on one or two package holidays for a family of four.
Guide figures excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026.
Professional indemnity and liability for agents come from publicly quoted tariff examples;
organiser's liability and cyber are guide figures from our own quoting experience.
The cost of insolvency protection depends heavily on turnover, deposits and credit rating.
Six things that really happen to travel agencies, all on one single Monday in high season. Tap through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€40,200
A family is turned away at the airport: the destination required a passport, but the agency said an ID card would do. Trip lost, replacement booking.
€5,800 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
A business customer's name is misspelt on the ticket. The airline demands reissue at today's fare.
€1,400 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
A customer trips over a brochure display in the office and breaks a wrist.
€5,500 · Paid by: Business liability
The booking system is encrypted and customer data including passport numbers has been stolen. Forensics, reports to the authorities and customers.
€18,000 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
A tour you put together yourself had a cancelled transfer. The group demands a price reduction and sues.
€6,500 · Paid by: Business liability
A tour operator does not pay out your commission. You sue for the outstanding amount.
€3,000 · Paid by: Business legal expenses
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €40,200
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Check honestly whether you bundle travel services. If so, you need insolvency protection and organiser's liability before you accept the first deposit.
Choose at least 250,000 euros professional indemnity if you sell group or long haul travel.
Put entry and visa advice in writing in the booking confirmation. In a dispute it is your best evidence.
In your cyber policy, check cover for card payment data and for business interruption if the booking system fails.
Only sell linked travel arrangements with the information form required by law, otherwise you risk being liable like an organiser.
Ask partner tour operators to show you their security certificate before you pass on customer money.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We know where the organiser line lies
Whether you are an agent or an organiser decides your obligations. As a broker we clarify this with you and get quotes from several insurers for exactly your role.
We understand claims settlement
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. When a customer makes a claim after an advice error, we know how to prepare the case for the insurer.
Office, data and private cover together
Professional indemnity, liability, cyber, shop and your private cover are handled by us from one source.
A family business since 1989
Our advice is free for you; the insurer pays our commission. You have fixed contacts, even in high season.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Does a travel agency have to protect customer money against insolvency?
Not if you only sell other companies' package holidays; the tour operator does that.
If you put trips together yourself or sell linked travel arrangements and take money,
you must provide protection under § 651r or § 651w BGB.
When do I have to join the German Travel Security Fund?
From a package travel turnover of 10 million euros a year, protection via the fund is compulsory.
Smaller tour operators can obtain protection through an insurer or a bank.
What does professional indemnity for a travel agency cost?
For small agencies it starts at about 200 euros a year with 100,000 euros cover.
With more staff and higher limits you are usually between 450 and 900 euros.
Who pays if I give wrong visa advice?
Professional indemnity, because the customer has not suffered injury or property damage but has
lost money.
Standard public liability does not pay for that.
Do I need cyber insurance?
If you store passport data and credit cards, you should have it.
A data breach triggers reporting duties and costs that a small agency can hardly bear alone.
Is the travel agency liable for defects at the hotel?
As an agent usually not; the tour operator is liable.
As an organiser, yes, and then for the whole trip.
That is why the question of your role matters so much.
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