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COVER STORY
TOURS & PACKAGES
BY MARIA LISELLA Marlene Mann was not overly concerned when she called to confirm her airport transfer reservation for the next morning and found that there was no record of it. She was staying at the Hotel Regina Baglioni in Rome, where it would not have been painful to spend another night. But she did call home and had her husband get in touch with TourCrafters in the U.S. Within 20 minutes a faxed confirmation of her transfer arrived at the Baglioni. It’s that kind of quick and personal service that has been a TourCrafters hallmark since it was founded in 1980. Mann, co-owner of New Travel Chicago, has been booking TourCrafters products for at least a decade.
Tried and True At last count, TourCrafters had 16,000 agents who were tried and true
bookers of a substantial amount of travel to Europe each year. The company also is a preferred supplier for several
agency groups, including MAST Vacation Partners in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.; Marketing Alliance for Retail Travel
(MART) in Herndon, Va.; the Travel Authority in Ponte Vedra, Fla.; and Virtuoso in South and Central America.
FAST FACTS
Love Connection The two companies are jointly owned by shareholders. TourCrafters selected
the Chicago area as its U.S. base almost by chance—Mauro Galli fell in love in Chicago and got married there. "It
was a casual choice, but being in the center of the country has become an asset for us," he says. Indeed,
the personalities and lives of the Galli cousins have largely shaped TourCrafters’ development. Piero Galli was
formally educated as a civil engineer, a background that has buttressed his efforts to embrace technology to build
the firm’s information development systems. Mauro Galli started as a struggling artist in Florence, which, he says,
fed his appreciation for the travel business as well as a desire to persuade as many people as possible to visit
and participate in the experience of art. "To see Michelangelo’s work or the Sistine Chapel virtually misses
the point," he says. "I convince people that you must see the art in its own environment, touch sculptures,
see where the marble came from. To move inside Michelangelo’s and Da Vinci’s lives a little… this is our challenge."
Together, the Gallis
"Opening a Rome office was the best decision we made," Piero
Galli says, "because we can make quick decisions. It was a human resource formula that works well for us."
In Rome, Francesca Galli, Piero’s wife and the company’s general manager of ground operations, oversees the final
delivery of services that have been developed in Italy and the U.S.
It would, in fact, not be unusual for either Piero or Mauro Galli to
vacation with hotel owners they have known for decades. It has kept them in good stead on both sides of the Atlantic.
"Hoteliers appreciate us spending time with them," Piero Galli says. "Italy in many ways is still
very provincial, and for many of our contacts we provide them with first-hand information about the American market.
This was especially valuable post-Sept. 11, when it was very difficult for them to decipher the mood of Americans
TourCrafters Sampler
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which they negotiate contracts. Venice belongs to Piero, while Florence,
where Mauro grew up and painted, is his territory. Three years ago TourCrafters even set up its own office in Rome
separate from its sister company. Agents say it has made all the difference in the world to their clients. "My
clients and I have used the Rome office, and it has been a boon," says Carol Ward, president and owner of
Carol Ward Tours in Indianapolis. "Many times my clients are not totally sure of the excursions they want
or if they want to take the train or get tickets for private museums or vineyards. I tell them to think about it
and visit the Rome office, so they have tons of flexibility." Ward does not make any commission on those last-minute
decisions, but she says it is worth it for the client’s comfort and ease of travel.
"My clients run the gamut from very price-conscious, professorial types to CEOs of Fortune
500 companies," Ward says. "TourCrafters has always been able to fulfill my needs. I have an 80 percent
repeat clientele, and that has been assisted by the suppliers I use such as TourCrafters." Even if the Gallis
do not have a contract with a particular hotel, they have been known to assist agents to fill odd requests. For
example, Travel & Transport’s Dixon recalls a honeymoon couple that requested two sequestered properties. "My
clients asked for the Bellevue Syrene on the Amalfi coast, a historic property, and the Certosa di Maggiani monastery
in Siena," Dixon says. "TourCrafters was not contracted with either property, yet they obtained quotes
and took care of all the details involved in the two-week itinerary, which was an obviously momentous and memorable
trip for my clients." The entire program included private transfers and chauffeur-driven tours. When booking
the much-sought-after Cinqueterre in the Ligurian region, Dixon had the same 
experience. "That town requires a seven-night minimum stay, and it is
not easily accessible," she says. "But TourCrafters’ staff knows the area and the players, and it can
handle the details from start to finish." Admittedly, TourCrafters has gained marketshare in recent years
since its prime destination - Italy - has become more visited and revisited by Americans than at any other time
in the country’s tourism history. About 2.5 million Americans visit Italy each year, and of that number the Gallis
move about 25,000 annually. "Italy has improved a lot in the past 10 years," says Piero Galli. "The
prices are more stable, and that has helped us sell travel. Politically, the country has gone through the mani puliti [clean hands] judicial process of ridding
itself of corruption in several crucial places." For their part, the Gallis are already focusing on ways to
bring the next generation of Americans to Italy. "Europe will always capture the imagination because there
is a craving to know it—Europe can never be boring," says Mauro Galli. "Whether a region has built its
fame on olive oil and wine, such as the Chianti province in Tuscany, or the designs of Gianni Versace that emerged
from the southern reg
ion
of Calabria, or the subtle hues of cloth used in Armani designs of Milan, Italy promises us a fascinating future.
It compels people to visit the places their wine and clothes come from." The Gallis believe that new destinations
will never replace Venice’s San Marco, the Sistine Chapel in Rome or the Duomo in Florence. "What gives us
cause to wonder is what the needs of the next generation will be," Mauro Galli says. "We know that no
matter what the crisis—natural or terrorist—Americans will never give up their vacations, yet we have to invest
in research to develop products that will match new needs." The Gallis’ plan is for TourCrafters to emerge
as a prime player in moving Americans to Europe, even beyond Italy. They want to introduce new destinations throughout
Europe, while keeping the same innovation, relationships and level of service. "We can exist in a larger environment
with some revisions and we must appeal to the younger generation," says Mauro Galli. "Our growth will
always be aligned with a gradual increase in staff. But Rome was not built in a day. You cannot see it in a single
afternoon, and we don’t even want you to try." TA