Cannes we go back, please? The MIPIM debate is here.

By Tali Robinson

It’s finally happening (we think)! MIPIM, Europe’s biggest and most talked-about property sector event, will return to Cannes next month. After the tortuous uncertainty leading up to 2020’s “postponed” event, and our glum resignation when MIPIM 2021 was inevitably cancelled, property professionals are now talking about March in boardrooms across the UK and Europe with scarcely contained excitement - albeit in hushed tones for fear of jinxing what used to be the highlight of the industry’s calendar. MIPIM has also, despite attracting in excess of 25,000 delegates most years, had its fair share of challenges, which continue to call into question the conference’s future and, very often, its purpose.

The pandemic has had an unavoidable impact on business events across the globe, with MIPIM being just one victim amongst many. Until a couple of weeks ago, Covid restrictions meant that non-essential travel to France from Britain was off the table, and even today, the French government banned tourists without boosters. Though MIPIM organiser, Reed MIDEM, has stated that 2022 attendance levels are comparable to those of 2019, for many potential attendees it was too difficult a decision to make in the face of much uncertainty and, for many others, the usual allocated budget has fallen off company P&Ls, not to mention the potential for costly cancellations. Sadly, the past two years have meant many businesses, as well as government departments and public sector bodies, are under the spotlight as to how and where they spend, and even in the booming property days, many struggled to justify that going to MIPIM wasn’t just a jolly in the South of France.

Even before the pandemic, questions around the relevance and rationale of attending MIPIM were called into question. Even mainstream media went through a phase of persistently scrutinising the conference in the wake of the #metoo movement and the Presidents Club exposé. MIPIM has an unavoidable history of a low ratio of women to men and, as far back as 2016, property publication EG described MIPIM as "not the property industry's finest hour". The pandemic may have put a pin in these conversations but MIPIM’s reputation as somewhat of an old boy’s club is once again raising eyebrows.

Clearly, diversity and inclusion form part of a much wider ongoing industry conversation about ESG, which has rightly – and finally – become a C-suite discussion for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Lessons have been learnt from COP26, which saw world leaders come under fire for travelling to and from the event by plane, and companies are now having to think carefully about the reputational implications of flying a large contingent to Cannes. The result may be emptier planes and fuller trains (which has its own ironic unintended consequences).

All this being said, after many debates and a lot of thinking and talking to our clients and to journalists, we’ve made the decision to attend MIPIM this year, in full force, for one fundamental reason: ours is an industry that is powered by face-to-face interactions. MIPIM – and similar heavyweight conferences like MAPIC, RESI and EXPO – remain the lifeblood of the property sector and the place where connections are made, partnerships are formed, deals are inked, and the future success of many organisations is decided.

We might be exasperated with Teams meetings, and we might be totally over navigating the awkwardness of networking on Zoom, but they have had their purpose and truly been a saviour for many businesses. The real estate world is a unique one though – it, quite literally, is built on bricks and mortar – and while virtual connections kept us going for a time, nothing replaces the power of coming together in person. Not just for doing deals and making new connections, but as a forum to share ideas and ideals, space to see best practice and a few glimpses of the future, and an opportunity to bring our human selves and our work selves together. I cannot imagine that anyone in our industry hasn’t missed doing just that over the past couple of years, which might explain why attendee numbers are purportedly as high this year as in previous years, despite the pandemic.   

We’re excited, and hopeful, about MIPIM 2022 for all these reasons and more. In many ways, the industry is unrecognisable from how it looked a couple of years ago, so this will be a chance to take stock and recalibrate as we work out what shape the property sector could – and should – take now. Do let us know if you’re in the same boat – and we look forward to connecting with as many of you as possible during the conference. And for those of you who aren’t attending, we’ll bring Cannes to you in the form of daily blogs and video content, so keep an eye on our property team channels. À bientôt!