When attendees convene for the SITE + MPI Global Forum January 12–14 at Rome Cavalier, Waldorf Astoria, in Rome, Italy, the news will be out: The Society of Incentive Travel Excellence has just named a new chief excellence officer for both SITE and the SITE Foundation. February 1, Didier Scaillet will replace Kevin Hinton, is leaving the organization after four-and-a-half years at the helm.
Scaillet has a deep background in the meetings industry and association management, having spent 18 years in various roles at Meetings Professionals International, including as vice president of global development. More recently he served as vice president business development at Cruise Lines International Association.
“Didier will be able to transfer his success in fundraising at the MPI Foundation, coupled with his experience managing global research for CLIA, to help the Foundation trustees advance our mission,” said John J. Ioannina, CIS, CTC, SITE Foundation president 2018 and vice-president, business travel and meetings & events Americas, Meliã Hotels International. “We are eager to collaborate to strengthen our brand pillars and bring our members and the global incentive industry more relevant content and research to prove that incentive travel directly correlates to business results.”
Among other contributions to the industry, Scaillet helped to develop the Meetings & Business Events Competency Standards, which SITE worked with to create its competency-based education for incentive professionals. He has also been involved with the Joint Meetings Industry Council, Events Industry Council, Canadian Tourism Commission, and United Nations World Tourism Organization.
“I am very excited and honored to be serving the SITE community, its leadership, and the Incentive Travel industry at large,” said Scaillet said in a statement. “The organization is going through some major transformations, with many opportunities to seize global growth, advocacy, value-added content, digital engagement, and sustainability.”
Scaillet, a Belgian native, will relocate to the U.S. for the job.
