October is synonymous with Barcelona Meeting Point (BMP) and 22 editions of the great international real estate fair have already been held in Barcelona.
From Thursday, October 25 to Sunday, October 28, a new edition of the BMP was held at the Palace 8 of the Montjuic-Plaza España site of the Fairgrounds of Barcelona, which surpassed last year’s numbers with an exhibit area of 22,000 m², 280 companies from 21 countries and 16,663 visitors; 5% more than in the previous edition.
The first two days were mainly targeted at investors and real estate agents, while the last two days were for individuals.
Innovation and new technologies
One of this year’s great novelties was the BMP Startup Connection Hub, an exhibition area where more than 50 startups have presented different technological solutions, all of them related to the real estate sector, which will allow redefining many of the processes of the real estate business.
BMP 2018 has also held, for the first time, a conference devoted exclusively to new technologies, the BMP PropTech Congress. This specific program held on October 25 and 26, presented the new technologies applied to the sector and provided for interesting networking sessions. During the BMP PropTech Congress, great industry experts have analyzed five major subjects in depth:
- Real Estate Fintech;
- Smart Building, Housing and Cities;
- ConTech and Business Management;
- Listing and search and Marketplace; and
- Near Future
Another of the great novelties has been the creation of the Barcelona Meeting Point Awards, delivered on Wednesday, October 24 in the Assembly Room of the University of Barcelona during the BMP’s Real Estate Leaders Dinner. The winners of this 1st edition of the BMP 2018 Awards were: the Hospital de Sant Pau i la Sant Creu of Barcelona, BMP 2018 Award for the Best Real Estate Transformation; and the Salesforce Tower of San Francisco, BMP Award for the Best Real Estate Innovation.
Networking and meeting point
On this occasion, the organization was committed to strengthening networking to the utmost and for the fair to be a meeting point of reference for all the actors of the real estate sector. One of the major objectives of the annual event is to attract the large international investors and the foreign companies that want to do business in Spain. For this reason, during these four days, breakfasts and afterworks have been organized to put investors and exhibitors in contact and to generate in this way a higher number of business opportunities.
Activities parallel to the fair can also be highlighted in which the participants have been able to fly over Barcelona in a helicopter, enjoy lunch by chef Nando Jubany (1 Michelin Star) or a gala dinner in the Assembly Room of the University of Barcelona, converting their visit to the BMP into a unique experience.
BMP 2018 also had the Luxury Real Estate Cluster, an exhibition space that has presented the offer of all the companies that have top-level products. Once again, this space has allowed real estate agents and buyers, both national and international, to come into contact, especially highlighting all the countries showing more interest in purchasing a dwelling in Spain (France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavian countries, Germany and Switzerland).
Debates and roundtables
For another year, the fair has held its prestigious International Symposium, a space in which the current situation of the sector, the trends of the real estate markets and macro-economic perspectives were debated and analyzed. For two days, October 25 and 26, up to 24 sessions with 85 top-level international speakers have been held, with the collaboration of relevant local and global institutions.
Another of the events to highlight was the session of the WIRES (Women in Real Estate Spain) group which was held on Friday, 26, asserting the role of women in a traditionally male sector such as that of real estate. For this, a debate panel was prepared under the title of “Trends in Real Estate: Digitalization, Sustainability and Wellbeing”, moderated by Nicole Berger, Director of WELL Connection.
This WIRES meeting was attended by Carmina Ganyet, Corporate Managing Director of Colonial; Luke Treasure, Director of Hines; Jorge Alonso, Urban Architect of Chapman Taylor; Mónica Chao, Director of Communications, Sustainability and Relations of INTU; Montse Rius, President of the Urban Land Institute; and Patrizia Laplana, Director of ASLA Green Solutions.
