With 60 years of expertise in the traveling industry, Rosario Mariani decided to put his retirement plans on hold to return to the office as chairman and head of CTI USA, the U.S. branch of the leading Italian travel management company for business travel Cisalpina Tours International under the Mediterranean Shipping Company umbrella. Born in Abruzzo, his family moved to South Africa when he was 7 and then to New York when he was 14 due to his father’s work as a chef for a famous French restaurant. Once stateside, he never left.
Mr. Mariani, can you briefly introduce the history of the MSC company?
From humble beginnings in the 1970s, Captain Gianluigi Aponte founded MSC with a single cargo vessel and entered the U.S. market in the 1980s thanks to the collaboration with Captain Nicola Arena, a distinguished leader in maritime operations. This partnership laid the foundation for MSC’s North American expansion, now under the leadership of Fabio Santucci, President and CEO of MSC – USA.
Where does MSC stand now?
The Aponte family’s visionary leadership, specifically, Group President Diego Aponte and Executive Chairman Gianluigi Aponte himself, has shaped the company into the world’s largest container company, counting almost 900 container ships aiming to surpass 1,000 vessels in the near future. During COVID, the company grew exponentially. It now includes some other affiliates, like Medlog, which is the trucking company servicing the containers to the ports where the ships can take them.
When did you come into the picture?
“I had contact with Captain Arena since the 1960s, sharing the same commitment to Italian excellence in global transportation and travel. Every time they needed something for travel, he would call me—when I was at Air France, Alitalia, Eurofly. About 15 years ago, they used Flag Travel and they consulted me to organize their corporate travel. We bought a new system, Concur, that allows the company to get all the information that they need about the profile of the passenger, nationally, as well as internationally. We combined BluVacanze, based in Milan, and Cisalpina, based in Turin, to cover corporate travel. About 7-8 years ago, we decided to expand from Europe to the United States. Officially CTI – USA was founded in January 2023 to enhance corporate travel in North America, while also serving the broader corporate market with high-end, personalized travel management services. Today we opened a new HQ at MSC’s North American offices at 420 Fifth Avenue.”
What are CTI – USA’s goals?
We are set to become a cornerstone of MSC Groups global travel ecosystem, carrying forward a legacy of trust, ambition, and innovation. Our first goal is to support MSC divisions—MSC Cargo, MSC Cruises, and Explora Journeys, the next level of going on a deluxe cruise—in corporate travel with precision and care. In order to do this, we guarantee incentives, meetings, whatever the requirements are. We can design specialized tours for travel designers in conjunction with our company Going2Italy, which offers premium destination management through the U.S. For the next phase, we intend to reach the consumer directly, in a year, a year and a half.
Can you explain the concept of Explora’s “deluxe cruises?”
Explora’s ships have only about 450 cabins—as opposed to 2,000, like you see on some lines—for less than a thousand passengers. The services on board are five stars. Also, each year you can choose a different itinerary thanks to our ships. We now have two, but next year we will launch our third.
How do you deal with the political part?
First of all, we have a big organization in Italy that helps us create a system. My idea is to find unique spots—Southern Italy has so many jewels—and give our customers a special experience. At the same time, we work out a solution on overtourism, pushing towards improving the whole system locally. People would rather go to Tropea, in Calabria, than to Venice, where Bezos is hosting his wedding.
Do you think being from a different cultural background helped you in your career?
Yes. In general, I firmly believe that my 60 years of experience in the travel industry have brought me here and have helped me come up with the idea of a club—treating people as family is the heart of this concept. My first experience on ships was in 1956, I went from Brindisi to Cape Town, down to Durban, in South Africa. There, we had a school trip to the airport and I saw a British Airways DC3 and right next to it there was a South African Airways 707. I was amazed by the size of the planes and I decided to go into the airline business. I worked for Club ABC which is a private travel club. Then I worked for Alitalia, gaining experience with destinations all over Italy. I worked for AirFrance as a director of marketing for many years. And even though I left Italy at 7, Italy never left me. I am very proud of my heritage and I want to recreate something that I can give back to my own roots.
During the pandemic, MSC saw an exponential growth despite the difficult time. Now that tariffs are on, do you think that it can happen again?
History never repeats itself. It rhymes. You cannot judge for the day, but in the long run. Also, I think travel is here to stay for many years to come, and we are here to serve whatever the needs will be, keeping people up to date with the times changing.
