When people think about insurance brokerage, they rarely consider the broker's experience outside the insurance sector itself. Yet it is precisely this cross-industry expertise that makes all the difference in understanding real risks — and in proposing solutions that genuinely protect a business. At Adler & Rochefort, that difference has a name: Hugo Gonçalves, the company's founder, who brings nearly 20 years of experience in the global tourism industry.
Over two decades working at companies like Hotelbeds (HBX Group) — one of the world's largest hotel distribution platforms — Hugo Gonçalves experienced, from the inside, the operational complexity of hotels, resorts, travel agencies, tour operators, and distribution platforms. This is not theoretical knowledge. It is lived experience, across markets in dozens of countries, with international teams, through periods of rapid growth, health crises, and profound technological transformation.
Why tourism experience changes everything in insurance brokerage
Most insurance brokers know the products they sell. They know the coverages, the exclusions, the premiums. But how many truly understand the day-to-day reality of a four-star hotel in the Algarve during peak season? How many have managed the logistics of an airport-to-resort transfer fleet? How many know what happens when a reservation system is hit by ransomware at the height of the tourist season?
Hugo Gonçalves does. And it is this depth of knowledge that transforms Adler & Rochefort's insurance consultancy into a radically different experience. It is not about selling policies — it is about anticipating risk scenarios based on real-world sector experience.
Multi-risk insurance for hospitality: protecting what you see and what you don't
A hotel is far more than a building. It is a complex ecosystem of equipment, technology, food stocks, designer furniture, HVAC systems, spas, pools, and common areas with high foot traffic. A multi-risk policy for a hotel property needs to reflect this complexity.
Drawing on 20 years of industry knowledge, Adler & Rochefort identifies risks that are frequently overlooked:
- Undervaluation of contents, especially in hotels with designer furniture, artwork, or professional kitchen equipment
- Absence of business interruption coverage — which in a seasonal property can represent the entirety of the annual revenue
- Lack of protection against extreme weather events, increasingly frequent along the Portuguese coastline
- Contractual exclusions that leave flood or water infiltration damage uncovered in high-risk zones
- Gaps in coverage for electronic equipment and hotel management systems (PMS, channel managers)
Civil liability: the invisible risk that can destroy a reputation
In tourism, civil liability goes far beyond a slip by the pool. It encompasses food poisoning, accidents during recreational activities, falls in common areas, damage to parked vehicles, and even issues arising from incorrect information provided to guests about local activities or services.
Adler & Rochefort's experience within the tourism ecosystem enables the structuring of liability coverages that address:
- Operational liability covering all areas of the property — including spa, gym, pool, and food service
- Professional liability for tour operators and travel agencies, covering errors in advice and organisation
- Extension to complementary activities such as transfers, excursions, equipment rental, and gastronomic experiences
- Coverage for non-material (moral) damages arising from failures in the delivery of tourism services
- Legal protection for managing complaints and disputes with online booking platforms
Group personal accident insurance: protecting the people who make tourism happen
The tourism sector is labour-intensive and characterised by high seasonality. Many employees are hired for limited periods, often without access to health or personal accident benefits beyond the legal minimum.
Adler & Rochefort designs group personal accident programmes tailored to the sector's reality:
- Flexible coverages that follow the seasonal hiring flow, avoiding payment for periods of inactivity
- Inclusion of temporary workers, interns, and freelancers involved in tourism activities
- Extension to accidents during professional travel, including transfers and journeys between properties
- Sums insured adjusted to the risk profile of each role — from reception to maintenance and kitchen
- Integration with corporate wellbeing programmes as a talent retention factor in a sector with high turnover
Fleet insurance: the invisible logistics of tourism
Airport-to-hotel transfers, inter-property shuttles, maintenance vehicles, supply vans — tourism operates fleets rarely associated with the sector but representing significant risk exposure.
With direct knowledge of tourism's logistics chain, Adler & Rochefort structures fleet insurance with a sector-specific approach:
- Analysis of each vehicle's actual usage profile, distinguishing between urban, inter-urban, and hard-to-access tourist zones
- Coverage for rental and occasional-use vehicles during peak seasons, frequently forgotten in standard fleet policies
- Claims management with operational priority — because a vehicle out of service in August has an incomparably different impact than the same vehicle in January
- Extension of liability to transported passengers (guests) during transfers and excursions
- Integration with the tour operator's liability insurance to avoid overlaps and gaps
Cybersecurity: the risk that tourism still underestimates
Hotels and tourism businesses process thousands of personal data records daily: passport numbers, credit card details, guest preferences, booking histories. They are increasingly attractive targets for cyberattacks — and ransomware incidents in the Portuguese hospitality sector have been rising significantly.
Adler & Rochefort has a deep understanding of the technology systems used in tourism — PMS (Property Management Systems), channel managers, booking engines, POS systems, and payment platforms — and knows exactly where the vulnerabilities lie:
- Coverage for cyber incident response costs, including forensics, client notification, and reputational crisis management
- Protection against revenue loss caused by booking system downtime — which in a hotel can mean hundreds of thousands of euros per week
- Coverage for GDPR fines and sanctions resulting from guest personal data breaches
- Extension to third-party technology providers and integrations (payment gateways, OTAs, channel managers)
- Prevention services included in the policy: vulnerability assessments, phishing simulations, and incident response plans
What sets Adler & Rochefort apart from other brokers
Insurance brokerage in Portugal is a fragmented market, with thousands of brokers registered with the ASF. The vast majority offer a generic service based on price comparison and standard products. Adler & Rochefort operates fundamentally differently:
- Risk analysis grounded in real sector experience, not generic underwriting forms
- Direct access to specialist insurers such as Hiscox, Allianz, and Zurich, with solutions designed for complex risks
- The ability to speak the client's language — RevPAR, ADR, occupancy rate, seasonality — and translate those realities into effective protection
- Proactive policy review aligned with investments, renovations, and regulatory changes
- Claims management support informed by real understanding of the operational impact on the business
Hugo Gonçalves's experience is not merely a biographical detail — it is the foundation upon which Adler & Rochefort has built its value proposition. When a broker understands the client's business as well as the client does, insurance ceases to be a legal obligation and becomes a competitive advantage.
If your business operates in the tourism and hospitality sector, or if you are simply looking for an insurance broker who truly understands what is at stake, contact Adler & Rochefort for a free, no-obligation assessment.