Promoted by the Florence Municipality, Fondazione Destination Florence and Firenze Fiera , the prestigious occasion celebrates professionals who bring international recognition to Florence as a top global destination for academic, scientific and congress events.
The concept came from an established international model of convention bureaus around the world, running ambassador programmes designed to involve the relevant communities in the attracting of international conferences. Fondazione Destination Florence General Manager Carlotta Ferrari reflects on how a bold idea grew into one of the city’s most successful international engagement programmes.
“Involving the academic, scientific and medical communities is absolutely essential because winning a major congress is never just about having an attractive destination or excellent venues; you also need scientific excellence and recognized experts behind the bid. Once conferences are successfully secured, the academics who helped make them happen are recognized as ambassadors as a way of thanking them for bringing that event to the city. I organized our first presentation—this must have been around 2012 or 2013—at the Fortezza da Basso. We invited our members, local institutions and a number of university professors and I explained the vision, why this programme mattered and why Florence needed it. From there, we built it brick by brick. Ten years later, we’ve honoured around 270 ambassadors.”
In the early years of the programme, the strategy was broadened from conference tourism in order to increase appeal and attract the attention of institutions and stakeholders.
“At that stage, being an ambassador wasn’t limited to academics who brought conferences to Florence. We also recognized people whose work promoted Florence internationally in different ways. We honoured figures such as Pitti Immagine’s Raffaello Napoleone, Director of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi Arturo Galansino, conductor Zubin Mehta and the organizers of events like Firenze Rocks. Having these well-known personalities alongside our academic ambassadors helped to increase the visibility and credibility of the programme.”
The growth of the awards came from consistent work building relationships with universities, encouraging bids for international congresses and supporting academics through the process.
“As our work grew, so did the criteria. Today, ambassadors are recognized for bringing international conferences with at least 300 delegates to Florence. The increase in award recipients reflects something much more significant: the dramatic growth in the number of international congresses Florence has successfully won.”
A major turning point came when formal agreements were signed with the University of Florence. Those partnerships allowed information about the programme to circulate much more effectively within the academic community. Over the years, internationally renowned scientists have been acknowledged, including Rino Rappuoli, whose work on vaccines brought considerable attention to the programme and further strengthened its reputation within the scientific world.
The biggest goal this year is to bring the entire community together, with this year’s edition set to be particularly significant.
“We’ve invited every ambassador we’ve honoured over the past decade—more than 200 people—to celebrate this milestone together in the Salone dei Cinquecento. One thing worth highlighting is that Florence has really become a model for other destinations. No other city has developed an ambassador programme in quite the same way. It’s become an event people genuinely look forward to. Many previous winners return every year wearing the silver ambassador pin they received. It has become a real badge of honour, and that’s something we’re especially proud of. This year we’d also like some of them to share the scientific achievements and collaborations that became possible thanks to the conferences they brought to Florence.”
From the very beginning, the awards have partnered with Florentine jeweller Paolo Penko, indicating the emphasis on also celebrating local craftsmanship. Each ambassador receives a beautifully crafted sterling silver pin designed especially for the programme, accompanied by a commemorative certificate signed by the city’s mayor.
The relationship with the University of Florence, Careggi University Hospital, Firenze Fiera and the city’s broader system is truly interconnected.
Audiovisual partners, entertainment companies, caterers, museums and historic venues all contribute to making the evening special. After the awards ceremony, a reception is traditionally hosted in one of Florence’s extraordinary cultural venues, this year taking place at Teatro della Pergola, one of Florence’s most historic theatres.
In recent years, Fondazione Destination Florence has established an Advisory Board made up of leading academics, including University of Florence president Alessandra Petrucci, to help guide the programme’s future development and acting as a unified strategy together with the Florence Association Centre, which was launched last year. It’s designed to become a home for international scientific and professional associations that choose to develop long-term projects in Florence.
For many years, the focus was simply on increasing the number of conferences coming to the city because the foundation was in its initial stages. Today, the priority is quality rather than quantity.
“Everything we do, from research and bidding strategies to the work of our ambassadors and the Florence Association Centre, is aimed at attracting the conferences that matter most for Florence, events that strengthen key scientific disciplines, support the city’s strategic priorities and leave a lasting legacy. That’s our vision for the future: not simply bringing more conferences to Florence, but bringing the right ones.”
