FLOOR TO OUR MERCHANTS: GATTINONI

SergioTestiGattinoni
Sergio Testi
General Director, Gattinoni Travel Network
When was Gattinoni created and what milestones have been met along the way?

Gattinoni was founded in Lecco (Italy) back in 1983: it was inspired by the passion for travelling and organising events of Franco Gattinoni, founder and Group CEO. His team counts over 450 people sharing the same passions and the highest levels of professionalism in creating tailor-made travels and events with enthusiasm and attention to detail. The Gattinoni brand includes 6 divisions focusing on different business areas: Incentive & Event, Communication, Healthcare, Business Travel, Made in Italy and Mondo di Vacanze travel agencies. In addition to them, a new agencies’ division called MYNetwork has been launched in 2020.

Headquartered in Milan, the Group has several operating offices: MICE (Milan, Lecco, Turin and Rome), Business Travel (Monza, Milan, Bologna, Turin and Rome), and 30 owned agencies in Northern and Central Italy. Furthermore, the network has around 1500 affiliated agencies in Italy, Switzerland and San Marino. During the 2018 financial year, Gattinoni recorded a total turnover of 286 million euros, compared to 246.5 million in 2017, registering  a 16% growth.

What is MatePacker and how was this project born?  

The whole idea behind this project is based on the willingness to approach a new market not belonging to organized distribution and, at the same time, on the belief that our industry still has plenty of areas that are still unexplored. Our decision to move forward also arised from the analysis of other markets’ experiences. MatePacker is a product for Solo Travellers, typically aged 25 to 40, which represents a new way to travel and discover emerging destinations by living authentic and unique experiences to share with a close-knit group of travel companions.

MatePacker combines two different terms:

  • Mate, an informal expression meaning friend, a person with whom we share experiences and emotions;
  • Packer, deriving from backpacker, a person who travels or hikes carrying their belongings in a rucksack and explores the world in search of authentic experiences.

This combination of words highlights a new vision of travelling, which focuses on exploring places, traditions and lifestyles while sharing unique experiences in full respect of nature and local communities. Emerging destinations, exclusive experiences, opportunities to extend the itinerary based on the traveller’s own interests, local guides facilitating the discovery and contacts with their own culture, and a group of travel companions sharing the same passions: these are the features of our MatePacker travels.

How important are innovation and digitalisation at Gattinoni? What are your main challenges and priorities? And, what objectives have you achieved?

For a service company like ours, innovation, which must also involve the whole team, and digitalisation are crucial for the business and its development. Some time ago, thinking about technology was enough: however, that is no longer the case today. We have achieved significant results with our new B2B and B2B2C platforms which bring together accommodation options, flights, rentals, services from all over the world, travel packages options and much more in one single place. Nevertheless we did not stop here and went beyond by adding a social platform to innovatively boost the dialogue between agencies and customers.

Do payments represent a critical area of focus in your company strategy?

They have always been a priority and a distinctive feature for our company towards providers and suppliers. At the same time, adopting and offering new and innovative payment solutions is a valuable asset which also promote better relations between agencies and customers.

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

At Gattinoni, digitalisation goes hand in hand with innovation and streamlined processes in any areas of activity including payments, collection, back office. MyBank caught our attention at the time when we were looking for ways to optimise timings and costs also in terms of financial and administrative tasks: initially, two of its features were truly crucial for choosing this solution and I’m referring to the immediate certainty of the irrevocable transaction along with the 100% automatic reconciliation. They both provided significant and measurable advantages straight away.

Thanks to MyBank, several administrative tasks could be streamlined, thus allowing us to focus on further aspects of our business that could not be properly followed up before. Over the time, we have appreciated many further features we keep benefiting from today: its payments with no amount limits, its highly secure transactions on the protected online banking environment, its easiness of use are critical competitive advantages within our industry.

MyBank is among the digital payment solutions available on your website. Who are its users and what benefits does it bring to you?

We work with a network of around 1500 affiliated agencies and MyBank has allowed us to make an alternative payment tool available to them, combining secure transactions and a frictionless user experience. The fact that its payment is based on the online banking systems, a reliable and user-friendly infrastructure, is definitely an advantage in terms of trust by our partnered agencies.

What changes have you seen and how has MyBank contributed to the digitalization and innovation of your administrative processes and those of your counterparts?

We consider Gattinoni affiliated agencies as an extension of our team: they are dynamic businesses that share our own values and are aware of the added value innovation and digitalisation bring to every area of their activity.

MyBank was positively welcomed by the whole network and our partners have appreciated its benefits straight away: its certainty of collection in real time, its solution allowing secure and seamless payments with no amount limits, cash flow optimisation, to mention only a few. 

Is MyBank appreciated by customers? If so, why?

Offering new, secure, frictionless payment tools can only be a valuable asset that improves customer relations.

By providing immediate confirmation of the transaction, MyBank payments allow 100% automatic reconciliation. How can this feature contribute to the optimisation of collection processes?

When agencies use MyBank for making a payment on the platform, the system automatically generates a collection registration and then the wire transfer reaches the bank account: a truly seamless process.

4 Aug 2020

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