At one of the world’s largest travel distribution groups, insurance was a meaningful source of revenue held back by structure. An enterprise transformation turned a set of regional programs into a globally governed commercial engine with board-level visibility.
Case study
02
Years
2024 to 2025
Location
Asia Pacific, North America and Europe
Strategic pillar
Enterprise transformation and insurance governance
Practice
Transformation and operating model
Led by Matt Endycott, Founder of Hartmann Advisory, before he established the firm.
5
markets brought under one insurance strategy
5
pillars in a globally aligned transformation architecture
12%
uplift in insurance attachment in New Zealand, with 4% in Australia
Introduction
Insurance is one of the most valuable lines in a travel business and one of the least actively managed. At one of the world’s largest travel distribution groups, it contributed meaningfully to revenue, yet performance varied by region because it had never been run as a single enterprise line.
Before founding Hartmann Advisory, Matt Endycott led the transformation that changed that. Across 2024 and 2025, a five-pillar architecture brought governance, commercial frameworks and consultant enablement together across five markets, lifting attachment and giving the board a growth lever it could see and steer.
Every point of attachment left on the table was margin the group had already paid to acquire.
Problem
The group runs a complex, multi-brand distribution network across Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. Across that network, the potential of insurance was constrained by how it was structured and governed, not by market demand.
The insurance portfolio was managed regionally, which produced inconsistent performance and left commercial potential unused. Insurance lacked global strategic alignment, standardised governance, cross-regional benchmarking and executive visibility as a profit lever.
- There was no global strategic alignment.
- Governance varied from region to region.
- Best practice was neither benchmarked nor replicated.
- Several insurers operated across regions with nuanced and highly complex regulatory and licensing requirements.
Incremental improvement would not be enough. The opportunity required a full enterprise transformation.
What was at stake
Insurance is sold on bookings the group has already won. Every point of attachment left on the table, in every market, was margin the group had already paid to acquire.
With several insurers, diverse regulation and no shared benchmarks, the gap between the best and weakest markets was both the risk and the opportunity.
The transformation mandate
The program had five objectives.
- Increase insurance attachment across key markets.
- Standardise governance and reporting structures.
- Strengthen insurer commercial frameworks.
- Align regional execution with global objectives.
- Elevate insurance to board-level visibility as a revenue driver.
Delivering it required cross-functional leadership across commercial, finance, operations, technology and executive teams in several jurisdictions. Matt led the program centrally from the group’s home market, directing teams across its international regions.
Strategic diagnosis
- Performance varied widely.Attachment differed across regions, with no shared benchmarks and no systematic replication of success.
- Governance was fragmented.Structured reviews were infrequent, which reduced accountability and visibility, and several insurers operated across different markets and channels.
- Commercial incentives were misaligned.Insurer frameworks varied and were not consistently linked to performance or to consultant engagement.
- Insurance sat outside the enterprise.It was treated as ancillary revenue rather than a strategic growth pillar.
Performance was constrained by structure, not by market conditions.
Approach
- 01
Diagnose
Benchmarked attachment, governance and insurer frameworks across regions, showing that performance was constrained by structure.
- 02
Frame
Set the mandate with the executive team, with five objectives and insurance positioned as a board-level revenue driver.
- 03
Activate
Built the five-pillar architecture, from a unified value proposition to performance-linked insurer frameworks.
- 04
Deliver
Ran the program centrally across regions through monthly and quarterly reviews, replicating what worked from market to market.
Transformation architecture
A globally aligned architecture was built on five pillars.
Global strategic alignment
- A unified insurance value proposition
- Enterprise-level performance benchmarks
- Cross-regional reporting transparency
Governance and accountability
- Structured monthly business reviews
- Executive quarterly business reviews
- Clear accountable owners in every region
- Escalation and performance governance protocols
Commercial optimisation
- Restructured insurer commercial frameworks
- Performance-linked incentive models
- Defined revenue growth targets
Consultant adoption and enablement
- Standardised sales positioning
- A simplified product architecture
- Insurance embedded in the leadership performance cadence
- Better training and field accountability
Cross-market replication
- Best-practice playbooks transferred between regions
- Structured knowledge sharing across markets
- Less duplication and greater scalability
Execution complexity
The transformation was delivered across multiple brands, diverse regulatory environments, varied commission structures, the volatility of post-pandemic recovery and changes in executive leadership. It called for executive diplomacy, commercial rigour and disciplined orchestration across the enterprise.
From a fragmented regional program to a globally governed commercial engine.
Impact and strategic outcome
The program changed how insurance was run and valued across the group.
- A measurable uplift in insurance attachment across key markets, including 12% in New Zealand and 4% in Australia.
- A global performance reporting cadence.
- Greater insurer accountability and transparency.
- Stronger executive alignment across regions.
- Insurance repositioned as a strategic enterprise revenue driver.
Insurance moved from a fragmented regional program to a globally governed commercial engine with measurable accountability, delivering revenue predictability, stronger commercial leverage, executive visibility and frameworks that scale. It is now a board-relevant growth lever within the group.
What changed
- Regional programs managed separatelyOne global insurance strategy and value proposition
- Governance that varied by regionMonthly and quarterly reviews with named owners
- Insurer frameworks not linked to performancePerformance-linked commercial frameworks
- Insurance as ancillary revenueInsurance as a board-level growth lever
Lessons for leadership teams
- Structure decides performance.Where results vary by region, the cause is usually governance and incentives, not demand.
- Governance is a commercial tool.A fixed review cadence with named owners turns insurance from ancillary revenue into a managed growth line.
- Replication compounds.What works in one market should become the standard in every market, deliberately and quickly.
Questions for your leadership team
- Do you know which market performs best on attachment, and is its approach the standard everywhere else?
- Does insurance have a named executive owner and a monthly performance review?
- Are your insurer frameworks rewarding performance or simply volume?
Facing a similar decision?
Enterprise transformation in complex travel ecosystems demands strategic clarity, robust governance, deep commercial negotiation and executive influence. It is the experience Matt built inside some of the largest organisations in global travel, and the foundation of Hartmann Advisory’s Transformation and operating model practice.
A fixed fee Strategy Sprint benchmarks your insurance performance across markets and channels in weeks, and sets out the governance and commercial architecture to lift it. It is led personally by Matt Endycott.
