Floor to our merchants: Gattinoni

Sergio Testi, General Manager at Gattinoni Travel Network

When was Gattinoni founded and what key milestones have been achieved along the way?

Gattinoni was founded in Lecco, Italy, in 1983, born from the passion for travel and event organization of its founder and Group CEO, Franco Gattinoni. Today, the team comprises over 450 professionals who share this passion and bring the highest level of expertise to crafting tailor-made travel experiences and events with enthusiasm and meticulous attention to detail.

The Gattinoni brand encompasses six divisions, each specializing in distinct business areas: Incentive & Event, Communication, Healthcare, Business Travel, Made in Italy, and the Mondo di Vacanze travel agencies. In 2020, the Group also launched a new agency division called MYNetwork.

Headquartered in Milan, the Group operates multiple offices: MICE offices in Milan, Lecco, Turin, and Rome; Business Travel offices in Monza, Milan, Bologna, Turin, and Rome; and 30 owned agencies across Northern and Central Italy. Additionally, the network includes approximately 1,500 affiliated agencies throughout Italy, Switzerland, and San Marino.

In the 2018 financial year, Gattinoni achieved a total turnover of €286 million, up from €246.5 million in 2017, marking a 16% growth.

What is Mate Packer and how did the idea for this new project come about?

The idea was born from the desire to reach a new market segment that currently lies outside the traditional organized distribution channels, combined with the belief that there is significant potential to capture market share in areas that remain largely unexplored. This decision was also inspired by observing trends in more mature markets than ours.

Mate Packer is designed for solo travelers aged 25 to 40. It offers a fresh way to travel and discover emerging destinations by experiencing authentic and unique moments shared with a close-knit group of like-minded companions.

The name Mate Packer comes from the fusion of two words:

• Mate, an English term meaning friend, companion, someone with whom you share experiences and emotions.

• Packer, derived from “backpacker,” referring to someone who sets off with a backpack to explore the world in search of genuine experiences.

Combining these terms into Mate Packer highlights a new vision of travel—one centered on sharing a journey to discover places, traditions, and lifestyles, while having unique experiences that respect local communities and the environment.

Emerging destinations, unique experiences, the option to extend itineraries based on personal interests, a local guide facilitating cultural encounters, and a group of adventure companions sharing the same passions are the key elements that define every Mate Packer trip.

How important are innovation and digitalization to your company? What challenges and priorities do you face, and what goals have you achieved?

For a service-oriented company like ours, innovation—which must also involve our people—and digitalization are essential for both survival and growth. In the past, focusing solely on technology was enough; today, it’s no longer sufficient.

We have made significant progress with our new B2B and B2B2C platform, which brings together banks, accommodations, flights, car rentals, and services from around the world into a single offering, allowing users to build customized travel packages and much more. However, this alone wasn’t enough, so we also launched a social platform to foster innovative dialogue between agencies and customers.

How much priority is given to payment methods within the company?

Payments have always been a priority and a hallmark of our company in our relationships with suppliers. At the same time, adopting innovative and up-to-date payment methods is a key strength for us in enhancing and strengthening the relationship between agencies and customers.

Why did you decide to use MyBank, and how does it align with your digital development strategy?

At Gattinoni, digitalization cannot be separated from innovation and the comprehensive simplification of our operations—including payments, collections, and back-office processes. MyBank caught our attention at a time when we were looking to extend optimization in terms of both time and cost to our accounting and administrative operations. The two key features that initially led us to adopt MyBank were the immediate certainty of irrevocable transactions and the 100% automated reconciliation—benefits that made a tangible impact right from the start. As a result, some of the workload on our administrative team was significantly reduced, allowing them to focus on areas that had previously been somewhat neglected.

Over time, we also discovered many other advantages offered by this solution: the absence of transaction limits, the high security standards provided within the reassuring environment of online banking, and its ease of use. These strengths continue to benefit us and are particularly important in our industry.

MyBank is listed among the digital payment solutions on your website. Who uses it and what benefits does it offer?

Working with a network of nearly 1,500 affiliated agencies, MyBank has allowed us to provide an alternative payment method that meets both security requirements and the demand for a smooth, fast user experience. The fact that the payment takes place through online banking—a reliable and user-friendly infrastructure—is no small detail. Building trust with our partner agencies also stems from offering such a secure and familiar payment solution.

How digitally advanced are your partners, and how has MyBank contributed to the digitalization and innovation of both your internal processes and those of your partners?

Our affiliated Gattinoni agencies are an extension of our team: dynamic entities that share our values and recognize the added value that innovation and digitalization bring to every aspect of their operations. The introduction of MyBank was very well received, and all our partners immediately appreciated the benefits this payment solution offers. Just consider the real-time certainty of credit, the ability to smoothly and securely process transactions of significant amounts, and the optimization of cash flow, to name just a few.

Do customers appreciate MyBank? If so, why?

Providing new, secure, and fast payment tools is undoubtedly a strong advantage in building and maintaining relationships with customers.

The information transmitted in real time with a MyBank transfer enables 100% automated reconciliation. How does this feature facilitate your collection processes?

When agencies use MyBank as a payment method on the platform, the system automatically generates a payment record linked to the transaction, and the corresponding bank transfer is then credited to the account. This automation streamlines our collection process significantly.