A large proportion of travellers aged between 18 and 24 have no real understanding of the benefits of travel insurance - and simply view it as an "obligation", an industry insider says.

Tom Griffiths, founder of year out information site gapyear.com, states that people in young age groups often think of themselves as "indestructible" - and would give more consideration to the purchase of pen knife than they would to their travel insurance.

"The younger guys - the 18-24 year old market - they're all indestructible. They think 'things aren't going to happen to me," he commented.

"I think the big thing is that they also don't understand insurance. A lot of the young travellers don't actually know what it is or what it does - they see it more as an obligation as opposed to actually understanding that it's useful for emergencies."

Gapyear.com says that around 25 per cent of young travellers hit the road either uninsured or underinsured.

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