Success at Expo Real

When this year's Expo Real, the Munich trade fair aimed at real estate professionals with an emphasis on investment, was wrapping up, the mood on the floor and general crowd levels seemed to indicate that market optimism is improving and that the fair itself may return, possibly very slowly, to a pre-crisis atmosphere.

While final data is still being crunched, organizers peg the total estimated draw of participants at this year's fair, currently the largest of its kind in Europe, at close to 37,000, an increase of just over 1,000 attendees from last year's fair. The Czech Republic was expected to have a strong showing, and in the end, it sent representatives from 29 exhibiting companies and regions, placing the country fourth in terms of exhibitors, after Germany itself, Poland and Austria.

It was only two years ago that some Prague-based attendees returned with reports of somber halls and thin crowds outside stands, with one developer describing the scene as a funeral with evening parties to drown sorrows. The 2008 fair came a scant three weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which was generally viewed as ushering in the deepest period of the global financial crisis. Attendance levels at the fair the following year dropped 15 percent.

Organizers are thankful that the situation has at least turned around, and say they continued to receive applications for exhibition space even as the fair was about to begin. In the end, a total of 1,645 exhibitors - an increase of 4 percent over 2009 - from 35 countries exhibited at the fair. Germany, being the home country, had always drawn the bulk of exhibitors, with more than 70 other countries booking stands. This year, while demand for space from Germany rose a mild 1 percent to 1,278 exhibitors, demand from foreign countries jumped a solid 18 percent, the lion's share of the increase being from CEE countries.

"It was quite a big change from last year, and the participation from the Czech Republic was quite impressive," said Thu Nga Haškovcová from the Prague-based law firm Haškovcová & Co, who attended as a visitor. "People were much more down-to-earth than they were two years ago in the bull market, which was refreshing. It is in general a valuable exchange forum; in two or three days, you can pick up on opinions, happenings, even gossip in the industry, and this year I heard talk of tentative plans, trends and a few deals. It was also clear from the attendees, presentations and discussions that the German economy is doing very well; given the degree to which the Czech economy reflects what is happening in Germany, I think this is encouraging."

Larger international companies from Prague echoed that sentiment. "Expo is a good opportunity to have a large group of your clients all under one roof - it's the most effective way of interacting with them. We found it a great opportunity as well to bring some clients together, for example, in some of the evening functions for clients active in the same region who don't necessarily know each other," said Chris Sheils, head of investments at real estate consultancy Knight Frank in Prague. "In terms of investors active or interested in the region, it was my overriding feeling that the huge gulf that has existed between vendors' and purchasers' expectations over the last couple of years is narrowing, and that we're getting some common ground here. Maybe more purchasers are coming out of the woodwork, not just the largest opportunity funds, but in general it was quite positive overall."

Brno was among Czech cities exhibiting at the fair, this time with its own stand, a change from last year when it exhibited as part of the South Moravian region. The city was keen to showcase what it calls its knowledge economy to foreign investors. "This year's fair showed a major revival - we were positively surprised with the attendance. A large part of our presentation was devoted to the large-scale R&D facilities which will be developed in cooperation with the universities, the International Clinical Research Centre and the Central European Institute of Technology, so we were pleased to have interest in these projects," said František Kubeš, from Brno's City Strategy Office. "Overall, we wanted to show foreign companies potentially investing or who may locate here our well-educated and skilled labor force with respect to all of the city's and our partners' projects."

Other featured projects in the Brno stand included Europoint Brno/South Centre, a revitalization scheme involving the construction of a new passenger railway station, and a 200-hectare industrial zone near the D1 highway and Brno-Tuřany Airport. 

Robert Smith can be reached at
features@praguepost.com