MIPIM in Cannes recently closed its doors with a rather flattering record: 23,000 attendees from nearly 100 different countries; 6,000 investors, including 76 of the world's top 100 asset managers, totalling over $4 trillion in assets. From the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund to the regional family office and all variations of investment funds, all were looking for opportunities. Facing them were 500 local authorities of all sizes, who came to present the future of their city, their region, their country, accompanied by some 5,000 developers and promoters.
Despite those who would like to reduce MIPIM to a national event, French participants have never exceeded the 10% attendance mark. In fact, there is no other event in the world that allows us to better define the changing contours of urbanism and the future development of large cities, both current and future.
So let's be clear, hospitality is only a small part of the projects proposed by metropolises or entire nations, but it is never absent and is an essential and fundamental link in the chain of proposals that give life to a new district or a new city.
Active for decades during MIPIM, MKG Consulting has always made sure that the hospitality dimension is not relegated to the background of developers' concerns. But we are far, far from making the most of this exceptional gathering. The Hospitality Workshop, which occupies only half a day of the conference programme, is still drowned in a multitude of other development topics. However, all the ingredients and actors are present during these few days to turn the hors d'oeuvre into a real main course.
The two new features of the 2023 edition reinforce the feeling that Hospitality should be even more assertive. Whether it is the Road to Zero space, which presented solutions for accelerating the transformation of the built environment towards a more sustainable model, or the launch of the MIPIM Co-Liv Summit, in response to the emergence of alternative lifestyles, these topics are at the heart of current developments in Hospitality.
Exemplary or pioneering, our industry has achievements to present, experiences to share, and joint reflections to carry out with all the actors in commercial real estate. Hospitality developers are not short of imagination, concepts and projections. This would be an opportunity to show collectively how far ahead our sector is on certain subjects.
After a tremendous rebound in 2022 and a very promising outlook for 2023, our sector is performing very well and has definitively convinced real estate investors that it is a prime asset class.
However, it is up to us to demonstrate this further and to assert our place in this real estate universe. The timing is right at a time when developers are starved of projects in other asset classes, due to a lack of commitment from local authorities or projected profitability. Our industry offers real opportunities and greater flexibility, providing alternatives to new construction in terms of conversion, rehabilitation or transformation, with changes of use towards living spaces and commercial accommodation...
We will continue to be actively involved in expanding the Hospitality dimension of MIPIM. Today still insufficiently realised, our vocation is to better ensure the meeting between the world of operators, those who create value and cash flow, and the investors who finance new assets.
Faced with changes in customer behaviour, hospitality has begun to reinvent itself and the process is far from over. The combination of actors, resources, talents and imagination is all the more necessary.