Interview with Mario Cantoni Fiala of Flymeto

At the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix, we managed to have a chat with Mario Cantoni Fiala, Flymeto's MotoGP and Superbike project manager. Fastback collaborates with this brand in creating new business opportunities and commercial relationships.

F:Fastback / M:Mario

F: Good morning Mario, tell us a little bit about what Flymeto is.

M: Flymeto is a global travel agency aimed at all people who want and need to travel the world. The Flymeto brand was born in 2018 to develop the B2C sector, and for these reasons we leaned on a world brand such as VR46 in the MotoGP world championship. Valentino Rossi is one of the biggest names on and off the tracks, and thanks to his many followers he allows us to reach an extremely large audience.

F: So you basically have a range of services specifically for the racing and motorsport world?

M: Absolutely yes, we give a lot of services let's say for B2B, to give support to the teams inside in the paddock-not only to VR46 but we are dealing with other big entities in the grid-because we are much more competitive on prices than our competitors. We give a lot of services, 24/7,and we are able to provide support also on a personal level, being always present in the paddock. First of all to follow developments but also to look for business opportunities.

F: Is the fact that you chose motorsport specifically for logistical reasons? Or the worldwide visibility?

M: We chose motorsport because I personally had contacts already established from my past, having been inside the World Championship for 16 years. Thanks to these it was much easier to show up with brande for these reasons we entered inside the paddock alongside VR46.

F: So flyme to is both b2b and b2c

M: Absolutely Yes

F: And can you be found all over the world?

M: We are based in the Czech Republic where we also have a back office department: a second department is located in Slovakia. These are always in communication with the end customer if we talk about b2b while if we talk about b2c we have a worldwide platform - Flymeto.com - through which everyone can buy both flights, hotels, insurance and car rental. A complete package.

F: Is your collaboration with VR46 set to grow, do you have shared plans?

M: We are fine with VR46 because it gives us support to develop so much business inside the paddock. It's a reference point for us because even after Valentino Rossi's retirement, the name is still very popular and that's why it opens doors for us from other teams.

F: Mario, you have a passion for sports and you live it closely so.

M: Yes I experience it closely because I was a sportsman as was also the CEO of Flymeto (Petr Feigl). We were athletes on levels I would say very high - me in tennis and Petr in basketball - and because of that we know very well what it means to have a smooth service. So we want to give this kind of service to everyone in the paddock because they need to be calm and stay focused on their work.

F: This is interesting: from sport for sport's sake.

M: Exactly. Drivers need to have the peace of mind to just think about racing, focusing on their work without worrying about whether they get to the hotel, what they need to prepare or what they need to book to be accommodated. We give this service in total for everyone and the whole team. From the team come the requests for everything that is needed and we from our back office prepare the offers of what is possible and what they can choose.

F: Do you also follow other sports besides MotoGP and Superbike?

M: Sure, for example Formula 2 and Formula 3, the Paris Dakar..and outside of motorsports tennis, basketball, soccer and other disciplines.

F: And are there any differences? Specifically in motorsport it's usually large teams whereas for example in tennis the staff should be smaller, correct?

M: The main difference is always the quantity of people. Other than that we always try to keep the quality very high. As a result we try not to differentiate. In the end, the needs of a larger group are roughly the same as those of a more circumscribed one. We try regardless to offer the most depending on what they need. We divide our offerings into 3 categories--economic, medium and high--so then it is the customer who tells us how much they want to spend, what the budget is.

F: So you basically are able to "sew" the proposal according to your budget?

M: Of course it always depends on the team because you know in the paddock there are races one after the other and also it depends if our service has to be connected to the whole logistics part.

F: And then you are always present at all grand prix.

M: This is very important and it's an advantage, a plus to try to solve in real time any issue that comes up. Also because some problem always pops up but our back office service solves everything on the spot. Critical issues can arise at airports, at hotels, with rental vehicles. However, there is always our service to intervene without keeping the customer busy. We can provide assistance in a large number of languages so that any misunderstandings can be fixed anywhere in the world.

F: Do you follow both MotoGP and the other championships?

M: I follow MotoGP and Superbike because this is my project and so my job is to develop the brand in these championships but not only: in fact we also give a lot of support to kids, junior riders to develop in motorsport and bring them to racing eventually also thanks to our direct contracts with Flymeto. Since we are already placed in MotoGP we are able to bring them into the teams that can offer us possibilities.

F: Are there any differences between the MotoGP paddock and the Formula 2-Formula 3 paddock?

M: Absolutely, the logics are always more or less the same, but the economic possibilities of the companies involved in the four-wheel arena are much higher. The needs of the formulas are much greater than those of the MotoGP.

F: It's interesting because you often don't have the overall measure and think that the categories at the top have similar dynamics...

M: The level of investment in Formula 1 compared to MotoGP is 10 to 1!

F: And just talking about Formula 1 you would like to get into that area as well?

M: Of course, yes, our interest is really to get to F1 while maintaining everything that has been achieved in the other series, thus continuing to develop motorsport.

F: In a team's overall budget, what percentage do travel costs play?

M: Then precisely I couldn't answer because it's our back office that has all the details however it could be around 15-20%

F: And in that regard do you envisage a system of facilities or packages with a fixed cadence? Annual for example?

M: It is not necessarily annual however we prefer such a dynamic because then at least the relationships are more confidential and in this case we can offer very important discounts let's say over the long term. If we agree with the teams we set a budget with our own formula that includes cashback. Basically based on the amount we agreed for we give back a part of the cost of our services as a credit on the purchase of other products. Basically travel credits. And this formula of ours has spread around the paddock and many customers are interested. And for a company how do you reduce the danger of the team making mistakes if there is a real partnership in place. Technically it's not just us working for the team, but in a way it's also the team working for us. If we are introduced to other stakeholders, whether they are customers or sponsors, we give a percentage in payback to the team. It is more of a partnership than just a supply contract, so it also becomes a sponsorship.We work well with Fastback because Fabio brings us important partners to develop the business and to make Flymeto known. It is really a 360-degree line of development.

F: Staying in the two-wheeled world you are also present in Superbike.

M: Yes, we are alongside MIE Racing, Midori Moriwaki's team that we came to through Fastback's mediation: this is a very important contact for us. It is a completely different system than the one we are in on this occasion: much more open, you can also do business on the experience, on bringing spectators to the track to experience the world more from the inside. That's why it's strategic for us to develop the Superbike Championship as well. And already there are several other teams interested in our cashback formula on long-term relationships. So the business plan is to have two reference teams, one in GP and one in SBK, from which we can then go on to activate other opportunities. We are always on site because it is very useful: being there where the team owners are allows you to be able to relate directly to them. It consequently becomes easier to understand how we can help solve the team's logistics needs.

F: Do you guys manage to measure the impact your operations have in terms of image?

M: Absolutely yes, these b2b collaborations help us develop b2c. This is the consumer project we created 4 years ago: unfortunately after a short time Covid came along and forced us to take a long break but now we are finally implementing everything we had planned.

We thank Mario and look forward to continuing to collaborate as we seek new partners and opportunities.

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