Annamaria Ruffini,
Annamaria Ruffini, Ceo of the Incentive House and Dmc Events In & Out, Italy

“Always look for excellence, which doesn’t necessarily mean luxury and high costs.”

Annamaria Ruffini, Ceo of the Incentive House and Dmc Events In & Out, Italy

Annamaria Ruffini is the founder, president and Ceo of the Incentive House and Dmc Events In & Out, based in Rome, Italy. She has a long experience in the Meeting & Events industry having been involved in the motivation and incentive industry since 1986. She has been a SITE member since 1996, and she chaired the Italy Chapter in 2009-2010. In 2011 she was given, in recognition for holding «the highest standard of excellence in creating or executing motivational events», the SITE Master Motivator Award; in the same year she secured herself the Global Award of the World Travel Market, for her outstanding contribution to the Italian tourism.

Q: What issues do the emerging destinations face in relation to incentive travel?
Incentive Travels have a restricted length, 4,5,6 maximum 7 nights. In this short time everything needs to be included: direct flights (maximum 1 change), comfortable transfers, good hotels and services in general, qualified staff and organizers, activities, memorable experiences, the right atmosphere, safety. Be aware that an incentive travel does not involve high spending tourists. It’s a different way of service. And you need to take into consideration the perseverance of the environment.

Q: What would your key advice be to emerging incentive destinations?
Choose which markets you want to reach, see if you have the right characteristics and you can elevate your standards. It’s a team work and all the stakeholders are required to collaborate. From the politicians to the facilities, from taxis to population etc.

Q: In your opinion, what makes a good incentive organiser?
A good incentive organizer is an author with a great team. She, he or they must all know their destination very well and offer all the possibilities, itineraries, experiences and other potentials of the destination, because every time they write a completely new story. It is also somebody who pays attention to other details as well, like culture, religion, age, taste of the customer.

Personal

Q: Which are some of the most memorable projects you’ve done in your career?
My first Incentive Travel in Japan with 150 Italians. The exchange of 2 great different cultures.

The 80th Anniversary of an International Company and its 500 participants in one of the most spectacular location in Rome. Another one was a CSR project in Thailand which involved an Insurance Company and all the participants to the Incentive Travel.

Q: Being an experienced incentive organiser, please state 5 facts and observations to help understand the incentive business:
Creativity – Respect for the destination – Always look for excellence, which doesn’t necessarily mean luxury and high costs.

Q: In your opinion, what are the Top 5 emerging incentive destinations?
Sultanate of Oman, Bhutan, Armenia, Slovenia, Iran.

Join our newsletter!

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay up-to-date with the latest updates from Kongres Magazine.