Europ Assistance

1960s: birth of assistance as a profession

In 1963, with backing from Generali,^[1] which was the first shareholder, Pierre Desnos founded Europ Assistance, the first service offering protection to people travelling abroad. The idea came to him after some friends of his had an accident while vacationning in Spain, an incident which made him realize the necessity of assistance services in case of emergency situations. In 1964, the Belgian subsidiary was created in Brussels, the first subsidiary outside France.^[2] In 1965, the company signed an agreement with the French aircraft manufacturer Marcel Dassault for the permanent availability of a special Falcon 20 equipped for medical purposes. In 1967, it offers a USA-Canada subscription. After Belgium, Europ Assistance opened a second subsidiary in Italy in 1968.

1970s: assistance services become widespread

In 1977, Europ Assistance celebrated its ten millionth customer and introduced the first contracts covering more distant countries such as Brazil and Kenya. The same year, opening of a subsidiary in Spain.^[3] In 1978, Europ Assistance Belgium chartered the first "Snow Airplane" to repatriate Belgian nationals injured while skiing during Carnival holidays in the French Alps. Europ Assistance Belgium repatriated a total of 154 people over a week, including 59 over the last week-end in a large-scale operation. For this exceptional repatriation operation, Europ Assistance mobilized more than 30 people and chartered an entire Airbus A320 with a holding capacity of 174, in Grenoble, France.

1980s: Europ Assistance extends beyond Europe

In 1980, opening of a subsidiary in Germany and a subsidiary in the United States, one year later. After Europe and America, Europ Assistance developed on a third continent, Africa, through the creation of a new subsidiary in South Africa in 1984. Europ Assistance entered the Asian market and opened a representative office in China in 1989.

1990s: Europ Assistance pushes ahead with its international development

In 1991 Europ Assistance expanded into Greece by opening a branch. The company launched teleassistance, a service specifically designed for elderly, allowing them to reach rescue services in case of an emergency, wherever they are, with a security bracelet connected to a phone. Meanwhile, the company continued its worldwide expansion. In 1993, Europ Assistance Portugal was created and three years later, Europ Assistance moves into Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Hungary, Poland, Singapore and Switzerland.^[4] In 1998, 115 million people are covered by the company in the world and 3.75 million cases were handled annually by 2,300 employees.

2000s: Europ Assistance invents Care Services

Europ Assistance launched the first European holiday barometer on a sample of 3,500 Europeans (French, German, British, Italian, Spanish, Belgian and Austrian), a survey conducted annually to gather information and data on people's vacation plans and habits, by nationalities. One year after, opening of a Russian and Czech subsidiary. In 2001, the Generali Group acquires 100% of the capital^[5] of the Europ Assistance Group and opening of a subsidiary in French Polynesia. In 2003, former chairman of La Poste (French post office), Martin Vial replaced Yves Galland^[6] as CEO of the group. One year after, the company moved into Chile and on 26 December, following the tsunami in southeast Asia, the Europ Assistance Group mobilized 150 employees around the clock to manage more than 1,000 customers.^[7] In addition to organizing the safe return of several hundred people by commercial air, Europ Assistance Group had a number of members injured or deceased. After evacuating more than 15 of them via air ambulance to some of the best hospitals in the region, it was decided to organize the simultaneous transport of over 40 patients (18 of them on stretchers). For this purpose Europ Assistance has chartered an Airbus 321 with its medical team and equipment. In 2005, Europ Assistance decided to change its visual identity and logo, reflecting its new ambitions. Europ Assistance sought to double its revenue. The new logo was created by the agency Dragon Rouge.^[8] One year after, together with the French market research firm CSA, the group publishes the first barometer of opinion on health systems in five European countries (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Sweden)^[9] and opened a subsidiary in the Bahamas, Canada and Chad. In 2007, the group CEO, Martin Vial, publishes "The Care Revolution".,^[10] to strengthen the group's positionning and brand image. In addition, the first "Plug & Sell" online insurance solution^[11] is launched, a unique travel insurance plateform, which aims to deliver a more personalized customer service. This global e-commerce platform is especially designed for travel agents, tour operators and airlines. One year after, the group continued a geographic expansion with the acquisition of two companies in the US: GMMI^[12] in the field of health in Florida and CSA Travel Protection^[13] in the field of travel in San Diego. Founded in 1991, CSA Travel Protection provides customized travel insurance, related products, and comprehensive administrator services for its business partners and the travelling public. They employ over 150 staff members at their office in San Diego and throughout the US. CSA Travel Protection was the first company to introduce a vacation rental damage protection plan to the US vacation rental market. They are known for their consumer-conscious business practices. In 2017, CSA Travel Protection won the 11th edition of the Stevie Awards for sales and customer service.^[13] Europ Assistance also trialed a proposed telemedicine interactive solution in remote regions throughout the Vendée Globe yacht race in 2008. In 2009, Europ Assistance partners the Bradesco Seguros Group to create a joint venture in Brazil. Europ Assistance Brazil is now the group's biggest company in terms of workforce the same year the group expands into Serbia.

Europ Assistance office in Milan

2010s: Europ Assistance commits

In 2010, Europ Assistance creates a new global tagline "you live we care".^[14] It makes support for social entrepreneurship its global commitment in terms of corporate social responsibility and links up with Ashoka.^[15] The same year Europ Assistance becomes the reference shareholder of Océalis,^[16] the French company specialised in direct distribution of teleassistance and opened of a subsidiary in Cameroon and Turkey. One year after, the company opened a subsidiary in Congo and in 2012 a subsidiary in Nigeria.^[17] In 2013, Europ Assistance celebrated 50 years of expertise at the service of its 300 million customers worldwide^[18] and in 2014, Antoine Parisi is appointed CEO of the Europ Assistance Group.^[19] In 2016, Europ Assistance North America announces re-branding to Generali Global Assistance, initially among identity theft and travel assistance services^[20] and in 2017, CSA Travel Protection^[21] rebrands the company to Generali Global Assistance.

Members of the Executive Committee of the Europ Assistance Group^[26]

• Antoine Parisi, Chief Executive Officer^[27]
• Pascal Baumgarten, General Manager and Group Chief Operating Officer
• Pierre Brigadeau, CEO of North Europe, CEE & Asia
• Roberto Ravagnani, Group Chief Human Resources & Communication Officer
• Samir Lahlou,Group Chief Financial Officer
• Juan Carlos Guzman, Chief Executive Officer Western Europe
• Chris Carnicelli, Chief Executive Officer North America
• Carmelo Reale, Group General
• Fabio Carsenzuola, Chief Executive Officer Italy
• Nicholas Sinz, Chief Executive Officer France
• Paul Williams, Group Head of Sales

Europ Assistance sponsoring Milan Marathon