Alessandro Petazzi agrees that Musement and TUI are a perfect fit: “Initially we financed our growth with venture capital, and we were looking for a strategic partner,” says the manager, who founded Musement in 2013 together with his three co-founders and a team that had grown to 150 people by the time of the takeover. The Italian online platform channelled its investment into building a cutting-edge IT infrastructure, and less into customer acquisition. That customer base has now been brought to the partnership by TUI. 28 million customers travel with the Group every year, and now they can benefit from the entire universe of experience from both companies. A win-win situation. 

In addition, the two companies complement each other with their content. TUI is a leading provider of excursions in classical holiday destinations, while the Musement portfolio includes activities and tickets for all the world’s major cities. “We have strengthened our product offering significantly through this acquisition,” says Schelp. “Our portfolio now ranges from excursions in sun & beach destinations, wellness packs and adventures, to tickets for sporting events and museums, guided city tours and individual visits to sights.” Tickets for theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios, which are popular with holidaymakers, can now be bought from TUI.

Twelve months after the takeover, the products from TUI and Musement are available on a common platform. This creates a number of benefits for all concerned. Now holidaymakers can browse the range of excursions and activities from home and book them on the TUI and Musement websites and apps. Moreover, all TUI travel stores and many partner agencies can access the offering. And of course the products can also be bought from the rep at the destination: “Our customers can book our experiences anytime and anywhere,” says Petazzi.

Product diversity plus TUI quality

But not only are there more ways to book; the activities are more and more diverse as well. There are already around 150,000 products on offer and the number is rising rapidly. To facilitate this product growth, simple links to third-party providers are inevitable. Musement’s open platform permits fast, easy integration for partners.

TUI’s unique business model supports the product growth. “We are the only provider in the market for destination experiences that combines an excellent digital platform with fulfilment capabilities. For that we have 9,000 staff of our own in 50 countries who are there for our customers,” explains Schelp. “So holidaymakers can be sure that these excursions and activities will meet TUI’s quality standards.” That quality claim is reflected in the fact that the Group curates many of the experiences itself, applying safety and health standards that are a benchmark for the sector. And the partners working with TUI are audited regularly.

As the offering grows, so too does the challenge of reaching out to customers in the right way. “We only want to offer our customers products that perfectly suit their needs,” says Petazzi. The latest technology will ensure that out of the huge portfolio only the products with the best match will be offered to each customer. Initial tests in Scandinavia show that the conversion rates for these personalised product offerings are much higher than with classical marketing. 

Both managers agree that the business side is running smoothly. “But we are also a good match culturally,” comments Petazzi, summing up his own experience and that of his co-founders, who have all stayed in the company’s management. “That isn’t always the case when a big player buys a start-up.” Musement employs people from 23 countries, and since the merger with TUI the company has been growing fast. The headcount is already 250, and by the end of 2020 the figure is expected to hit 400.

David Schelp thinks that the secret to this effective cooperation lies partly in the decision not to integrate Musement into the Group after the takeover. “We work together in areas where there are synergies, but we have left Musement their start-up mentality. That also helps us within the entire TUI Destination Experiences business.” Being fast and agile, establishing a new culture of error management, performing tests and learning from them to continually improve products – on all these fronts he sees much to learn from Musement.

The partnership between Musement and TUI has started successfully. Petazzi and Schelp have ambitious plans for the future: “We want to achieve above-average growth in one of the most exciting segments in tourism and become the world’s leading provider in the market for tours and activities.”