RecreatieVerzekeringen, formerly part of RECRON, was taken over by Chris van Eck in 2018 under a new name. With his company, he focuses on a diverse target group, from campsites and holiday parks, yacht rentals, consumers to tour operators and travel agents. He tells TravMagazine why and how he wants to work more actively with the travel sector. Does he envision a desired ratio between direct sales to consumers and sales through partners in the travel industry? Van Eck: ‘We are actually there for everyone. The consumer, but also for every customer who would like to work with us. It doesn’t matter whether they only take out a few insurance policies per year or a lot. Every relationship is equally valuable to us.’ RecreatieVerzekeringen is still a relatively unknown name in the travel world, but many people still know Jan Gout from his time at Europeesche. What is his role? ‘That’s right. We are already very well known in the recreation industry, but not yet in the travel industry. Jan has an important role to play here. I have known Jan personally for a long time, because we have worked together more often in the past during my time at RECRON. That is why I am also pleased that Jan has joined the RecreatieVerzekeringen team, given his years of experience in the travel industry. His role is to enter into new relationships and, just as important, to maintain existing relationships.’ What is your dot on the horizon? Where will you be in, say, three years? ‘There is no dot for us, because what do you do when you reach that dot? Leaning back? No, because then there will be a new dot and then another dot. We look step by step at where this adventure takes us. Sitting still and leaning back is not an option. That is why we are constantly working on the development of our automation, in order to be able to serve our customers even better. In this area, we continue to look at what else we can improve. We already have new ideas, which we hope to be able to realize in the autumn. The great thing is that my daughter Maud has now also started working part-time with us. Who knows, maybe she will continue the company in the future.’
