Much less damage to your skin? I don't think there's very much research to know for sure that this is the case, is there? This is still a drug that doesn't have much scientific backing behind it that I know of, other than it has some possibly beneficial side effects... It's not really even studied as much for the tanning aspect... It's more of an interest for things like ED and such.
I've never gone to a tanning bed but I do know you can do a session for about $5. So, that's 6 sessions for the price of one vial of MT2. As far as I know, 6 sessions would get you pretty tan pretty fast.
As far as skin protection... Sun block and long sleeves.
My biggest reservation is the fact that acquiring a tan, or a burn, is forcing changes in your body at a DNA level. Seeing a sun tan/burn on someone is an indicator of damage done to the DNA. It's actually better for you not to have a tan at all, which isn't really realistic, but to take something that I presume is actually speeding up DNA damage to get that tan faster gives me pause. Seems like way too many implications to be considered safe. Again, I've not read much about it as far as research so I may be off base a bit but I do know the science isn't overwhelmingly in support of its safety.