"We've gained respect from clubs like Marseille and that says a lot about how far we have come," said Gartside.
"There were people there we knew already, but we've been able to have lunch and discuss how we structure our finances, how we control our wages, handle our property, how we handle our commercial income, and why we've built up our backroom staff. These people are envious of us.
"Everybody knows who Bolton Wanderers are now and that should make it easier, in future, to bring players in."
He added: "We've learned a lot from a playing point of view. People like Joey O'Brien, Kevin Nolan and Ricardo Gardner, have all upped their level of football and experience.
"From a commercial point of view it has been a success the corporate people who travelled with us, the fans, the ticket allocation and the way we've got the police involved. We haven't just made new friends at Marseille and Besiktas, but we've also made friends with the chief of police here in Bolton, having worked so closely together.
"We've learned a lot and we're not going to throw all that away."
The UEFA Cup is not a major money-spinner, but Wanderers did better than expected, having only reckoned on reaching the group stages. And they did not anticipate striking such a successful TV deal with Channel 5.
"We budgeted to make a million net, and I think it will be more than that because we've had one more round than we expected," he said.
"On TV alone we've taken about £1.2m to £1.3m. Channel 5 have been very complimentary about the way we've helped them. They've enjoyed it and they've had good viewing figures.
"If only we could convert some of those Channel 5 viewers into season ticket holders . . ."