Skift Take
Will it suffice for TUI Musement to focus on the partnership side of its business, as it does with Booking.com and major cruise lines, or does it need to master the uphill task of becoming a breakout consumer brand beyond TUI's existing customer base? Acquisitions could be part of the mix when the pandemic dust settles.
What happens when a legacy tour operator, Germany-based TUI Group, acquires a Milan-based tours and activities startup, Musement, and tries to get digital street cred in growing the business?
The result is TUI Musement, which rebranded from TUI Destinations in September, and has become an important if unheralded European player in tours and activities, although not necessarily a thorn in the side for well-funded European market leader GetYourGuide.
In his first interview since the rebranding, and the maiden in-depth conversation with the press since becoming CEO of TUI's tours and activities business unit in April 2018, David Schelp thinks the brand isn't getting its due.
"Only a few people have us on their radar," Schelp told Skift. "We are a relevant player in tours and activities."
Acquired by TUI in September 2018, Musement the next year drove TUI's euro 1.23 billion (about $1.48 billion) in annual gross turnover in tours and activities. That was a 105 percent jump from the previous year when Musement was still independent.
Perhaps the only tours and activities business to disclose its financials, TUI Musement made euro 56 million ($67.3 million) in earnings before interest and taxes in 2019, a 21.7 percent jump over the previous year. Like everyone else's
