Booking.com forges activities partnership with TUI

Netherlands: Booking.com has partnered with TUI subsidiary Musement to bolster their roster of activities.

The partnership will bring over 70,000 tours, activities and attractions to help Booking.com build out their array of travel offerings.

Booking and TUI’s partnership demonstrates a key shift for both companies moving forward. This is Booking.com’s first agreement securing inventory from an existing consumer-facing company, while for TUI, the partnership demonstrates an interest in displaying their product on additional brands’ platforms.

Musement was purchased by TUI in September 2018 after the modest OTA raised around $16.5 million in various funding rounds. TUI intended to transform the Musement platform into a leading platform for travel experiences.

David Schelp, Managing Director of TUI Destination Experiences, said: “The purchase of Musement and the expansion of its portfolio of activities, bookable on the platform, is now being followed by the partnership with Booking.com, an expert in worldwide marketing. We have a unique profile in the activities sector, which makes us attractive to both customers and major tourism partners,”

Booking.com, meanwhile, has been expanding its array of additional services, primarily in the activities market. It acquired FareHarbor in April 2018 and launched its companion app Citybook earlier this year.

The company has been attempting to build up its own distribution system, and is reaching out to third party distributors in order to improve their ‘connected trip’ ecosystem.

Lawrence Hester, vice president of attractions at Booking.com, said: “We know that people are already starting to dream of taking trips once it’s safe again, even if that’s a bit closer to home at first. We’re busy laying the foundation to make sure we can provide our customers with the best possible mix of tours, activities and unique experiences all on one platform.”

The partnership will begin in July, with the two collaborators adding offerings over the coming months which take into account each platform’s strengths.