Musement

About Musement

Musement operates as an online platform for booking travel activities, tours, and experiences, functioning as a key component of the TUI Group's Tours & Activities division. The company was founded in Milan, Italy, in mid-2013 by Alessandro Petazzi, Claudio Bellinzona, Fabio Zecchini, and Paolo Giulini. The founding team identified an opportunity in the travel sector, noting a lack of local players in major tourist cities, including those in Italy, for booking experiences online. Co-founder Alessandro Petazzi, who had a background in investment banking and consulting, was inspired to create a scalable, global company starting from Italy.

The firm's primary business involves aggregating and selling third-party activities and tickets through its digital platform, which is accessible via its website and mobile apps for iOS and Android. This platform serves both individual travelers (B2C) and other businesses (B2B). For consumers, Musement provides a service to discover and book a wide array of activities, from museum tickets and city tours to exclusive and temporary events, receiving a digital voucher upon booking. For business clients, which include online travel agencies, hotels, and airlines, Musement offers co-branding, white-labeling, and full integration solutions, acting as a B2B provider of digital solutions combined with local service delivery.

Revenue is generated through a commission-based model, where Musement takes a percentage (reportedly between 15% and 25%) of the sales made on its platform. The company provides support services to its suppliers, such as content translation, SEO optimization, and 24/7 customer service, to help them increase their sales. A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by TUI Group in September 2018. Following the acquisition, Musement continued to operate as an independent business unit within TUI Destination Experiences, which was later rebranded as TUI Musement. This strategic move provided Musement with access to TUI's vast customer base of 20 million travelers and enhanced its operational capabilities, while TUI gained Musement's technological assets and digital expertise.

Before the acquisition, Musement had achieved several key milestones, including securing seed funding in 2013, raising $10 million in a Series B round in 2016, and acquiring the Dutch startup Triposo in 2017 to enhance its ability to provide curated travel recommendations.