TUI driving further growth in Tours & Activities with new team focused on strategic B2B partners

Germany

Nishank Gopalkrishnan takes on expanded role as TUI Musement Chief Commercial Officer.

TUI Group, one of the world’s leading tourism businesses, has made changes to the TUI Musement leadership team to drive further growth of its Tours & Activities division. Nishank Gopalkrishnan, previously TUI Musement Chief Business Officer, has been appointed as Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for all B2B strategic partnerships for distribution and global product supply. Claudio Bellinzona, one of the Musement co-founders and previously Chief Supply Officer, has decided to leave TUI, but will continue to support the business as an external advisor, working with the TUI Musement leadership team on various new growth opportunities.

“Since joining TUI in 2018, Claudio has had a strong impact on our strategy and culture as a key member of our leadership team, and I am delighted he will continue to work with us as an external advisor to help drive further business growth. I am also excited to see his future entrepreneurial endeavours.” Said Peter Ulwahn, CEO of TUI Musement, the Tours & Activities division of TUI Group. “We have recovered from the pandemic, are growing fast, the integration of Musement is complete, and TUI is established as a leading player in the Tours & Activities industry; now is the time to take our business to the next level, and B2B is a strategic focus area. By unifying our partnership experts into a single B2B commercial team, we will be more focused, agile and efficient, delivering better products, solutions and services to our entire partner ecosystem.”

B2B is one of the fastest growing areas of TUI Musement, generating approximately 50% of the business’ revenues through distribution partnerships with some of the world’s leading travel organisations. Nishank will lead a new commercial team, unifying all colleagues responsible for relationships with distribution partners, such as OTAs, airlines and hotels, and those managing product supply through working with attraction and activity operators around the world. The commercial team will drive efficient portfolio development of relevant own and third-party experiences, advocating for partner relationships across supply and distribution and fostering greater alignment between B2B stakeholders. Greater internal synergies will help develop smoother processes to deliver faster results, create greater value and provide an overall better partner and customer experience.

“When you put distribution and supply together you enable greater understanding and bring partners closer together, which ultimately always leads to better outcomes.” Said Nishank Gopalkrishnan, Chief Commercial Officer of TUI Musement, the Tours & Activities division of TUI Group. “Our partners, both distributors and suppliers, have exciting growth aspirations, and we are a key enabler in achieving these goals. TUI Musement is much more than just an aggregator of things to do – we work with partners to carefully develop and efficiently distribute great travel experiences.”

TUI Musement provides B2B partners with a comprehensive offering, including API and white label distribution platforms, a curated portfolio of over 88,000 experiences, more than 1,000 multi day tour itineraries and 125,000+ transfers routes in 100+ countries, as well as call centre and in-destination services. Commercial activities for Intercruises Shoreside & Port Services, TUI Musement’s B2B brand specialising in cruise ground handling and port operations, will continue to be led by Virginia Quintairos, Director Business Development, and Olga Piqueras, Managing Director Port Operations.