Today, we’re going behind the scenes with Marco D’arienzo, to talk all things digital partnerships. This is your chance to find out more about our affiliate programme, learn how to stay competitive in an ever-evolving digital landscape, and discover the key benefits of partnering with an industry-leading business…

 

Marco, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your experience. How did you end up working in tourism?

I joined TUI Musement 6 years ago and have been part of the B2B Strategic Partnerships team for about 3 years. It has been, and still is an amazing journey. I have had the opportunity to meet extraordinary colleagues, who help me to enhance my skills and grow both personally and professionally. Tourism has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and was even the subject of my dissertation at university. I was born and grew up in Naples, a southern Italian city that has always welcomed millions of visitors from all over the world every year and so I think my work is a natural evolution of all my previous life experiences and studies.

Tell us how the Strategic Partnerships department works, and your role within the team.

My team handles all digital partnerships, globally. We engage with a diverse range of companies who are interested in including experiences within their ancillary portfolio, as part of their travel verticals or with the aim of monetising travel related content. In my role, I not only manage existing collaborations with key partners, but I also oversee the entire onboarding process for those eager to explore what we have to offer. As the initial point of contact, I welcome new clients to our platform, providing them with essential guidance and information to kickstart their journey with us. It’s a privilege to introduce them into our world, and to ensure they have everything they need to thrive in it.

Who is the affiliate programme for, and what are the main benefits?

The Musement affiliate programme is for anyone who wants to monetise their travel content and traffic, whether they are a travel blogger, agency, OTA, airline or railway company. Basically, anyone who has a passion for travel and is interested in promoting our experiences through their own channels. The benefits are many: we provide our partners with a curated portfolio of high-quality products, competitive commissions, state of the art tech tools for seamless integrations, support from a dedicated account manager, and a user-friendly platform that provides comprehensive insights, statistics and reporting for tracking daily sales.

What partner solutions are available at Musement?

Our suite of tools empowers partners to enhance their services, whether they are established players or ambitious newcomers. We offer several solutions to help businesses grow, from API and white label solutions to embeddable widgets, we’re committed to fostering successful collaborations and providing the best possible experience.

How do we differentiate our travel affiliate programme from others in the industry, do we offer any unique benefits?

Being part of a leading travel group provides our partners with significant advantages:

Exclusivity – Our TUI Collection of experiences offers guaranteed great value and top-rated guides. Furthermore, our collaboration with National Geographic Expeditions exemplifies our dedication to curation and innovation. Offering an array of captivating experiences around the world, National Geographic Day Tours are an incredible series of unique experiences, encompassing diverse themes such as history, culture, gastronomy, conservation, nature, adventure, and photography, all rooted in National Geographic’s rich legacy of exploration.

Sustainability – Each of our Green & Fair experiences has been checked via a process approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). In addition, all National Geographic Day Tours meet the GSTC criteria, and a portion of the proceeds from these tours goes back to the National Geographic Society to fund research and sustainable programs around the world.

Health & Safety – Our partners can also count on our robust health & safety policies.

Dedicated support – we are a family, and we act like one, extending this ethos to all who partner with us by providing continuous support.

What types of tools, resources, or support do you provide to help affiliates optimise their marketing efforts and maximise their earnings in the travel sector?

As account managers, my entire team and I are always committed to supporting our partners. We endeavour to create optimal strategies that empower them to monetise experiences.  We tailor dedicated marketing and discounting campaigns for affiliates, dependent on seasonality and the type of products involved. In addition, our colleagues in the tech department work hard every day to provide a wealth of information and statistics. By analysing user behaviour, we empower partners to make informed decisions that drive impactful outcomes.

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, how do you adapt your strategies to stay ahead and help your affiliates stay competitive in the travel affiliate marketing sector?

In the dynamic world of digital partnerships, staying ahead and ensuring our affiliates remain competitive requires strategic agility and continuous adaptation. The advice I feel I would give to our partners when getting started in the affiliate world is to:

*Create high-value content: The first step is to produce innovative, detailed and engaging content. High-quality content attracts organic traffic and encourages affiliate conversions.

*Understand your audience: Knowing your audience’s preferences, demographics, and travel interests is key to offering them content and experiences that are aligned with what they want and expect.

*Drive qualified traffic and focus on high converting touch points: I can’t stress enough how important is to ensure qualified traffic and to create contextualised entry points to boost conversion.

*Optimise for organic search: Investing in search engine optimisation (SEO) to improve the website’s visibility in search engine results is crucial for achieving good results.

*Leverage social media: There is no denying that nowadays social media is a key component of digital marketing. It sounds easy, but it is important to pay attention to it, as it is an ever-changing world.

What support do we have in place to onboard new affiliates?

Upon registering, all new affiliates immediately receive instructions on how to complete the process and start exploring the available tools to promote our experiences. We maintain on-going communications with partners: we are committed to processing all requests in the shortest possible time and proactively contacting partners with suggestions on the best strategies to adopt and which tools to use.

At Musement, it’s not all work and no play. What do you do on your day off?

We know how to have fun the right way! In fact, we often organise events that bring together colleagues, to renew team cohesion and have fun all together. As for me, my biggest passions are travelling, sports and music events. In my free time I love to go for walks with my little dog, Luna, and going to the beach (and not just in summer). I also enjoy playing poker with friends. I love pizza, writing and storytelling. My biggest problem? I can’t resist temptation!

And finally, how can people sign up to the Musement Affiliate Programme?

This is definitely the easiest question!

You can apply to join our affiliate programme here

We can’t wait to start working with you!