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SPRING CONVENTION ’06 WAS MORE INTERNATIONAL THAN EVER

By Steve McLinden

The entire global retail community, from Australia to Zambia, journeyed in unprecedented numbers to ICSC’s Spring Convention in Las Vegas this year to conduct business, compare notes and gain fresh perspectives useful to their colleagues and countrymen back home.

Altogether, some 54 countries were represented, according to Scott Harris, the staff vice president who heads ICSC’s international business development. “As the industry becomes more mobile, people from all around the world are doing business beyond their borders,” Harris said.

International retail professionals, much like their U.S. counterparts, have come to realize that they can’t afford not to attend this annual assembly of retail development executives, the largest such gathering in the world. “The Spring Convention has become a mandatory destination — not just for the U.S. market, but for an increasing number of international players who see the event as a veritable shopping mall of ideas, contacts and deal-making opportunities,” said Michael Green, chief executive of the British Council of Shopping Centres.

“As capital, retailers, vendors and developers are moving more rapidly across international borders, the contacts made at a significant meeting like Spring Convention are extremely valuable in business execution in home territories,” said Robert F. Welanetz, CEO of Shanghai Kinghill Ltd. “The exposure an international executive can have to global vendor offerings exhibited in the Trade Expo and the Design Trends exhibition and educational seminars are exceptional opportunities to update and improve awareness of global trends.”

The global retail community benefits greatly from having access to a single gathering place like this annually, says Álvaro Portela, CEO of Sonae Sierra, an international shopping center development and management firm based in Maia, Portugal. “Because the convention attracts so many non-American shopping center professionals, it has become a meeting point for Europeans to meet other Europeans, Australians and others,” Portela said. “Las Vegas, although a long way from Europe, is also a unique place to visit, and it has the right offerings to provide a leisure side to the business meetings.”

Many international attendees combine the trip to Las Vegas with other stateside business, such as study tours of the newest retail properties in the U.S., according to Portela. Additionally, the convention affords them an opportunity to meet American developers, retailers and consultants who are interested in expanding their activities abroad, he says.

Ian Watt, executive director of Old Mutual Properties, of Cape Town, South Africa, says the event gives him the chance to learn about all the challenges that face the industry. This year ecologically friendly building was a popular ICSC topic. It was touched on in former President Clinton’s keynote speech and also was raised in breakout sessions and in conversations with numerous developers, says Watt. “The efforts being made on the training and education fronts also make me feel that something really significant is being done,” he said.

Though there was no official tally of the number of international representatives in Las Vegas this year, total attendance was 45,094, up 10 percent over last year, according to ICSC. Countries represented for the first time included Ghana, Lebanon, Serbia, Thailand and Zambia, all of which joined the perennially well-represented European countries. Attendance from outside the U.S. and Canada was higher this year than ever, Harris says, particularly from Australia, China, Japan, Mexico and the U.K.

“What really makes Vegas work is the Leasing Mall and the deal-making aspect for retail real estate,” said Harris. “While that format is a uniquely American concept, it is proving to be cost-efficient for everyone.” ICSC offers tips to international exhibitors each year on how to make optimal use of their booths, he says. “Overseas, a lot of the booths are more show-and-tell and not venues for making deals, so the whole concept of getting a return on investment is not as clear to them. We try to help them budget their time and make the most of their investment here.”

The convention drives home the fact that the shopping center business is “now very much a worldwide industry where political borders and regions are becoming less and less relevant,” said Phil McArthur, director of leasing and marketing for Dubai (United Arab Emirates) Festival City. “Whether one is from Dallas, Dublin or Dubai, business is done at the ICSC Spring Convention.”

The Las Vegas format makes it easier to meet the architects, suppliers and brokers with whom one is doing or wants to do business, McArthur says. “And the education sessions are world-class and inspirational.” But current international participation, though growing, could grow considerably more, says Christopher M. Wicker, chairman of Retail Consulting Group, based in Paris. Even companies that have no intention of doing business in the U.S. should come, Wicker says. “Even if you are regional in nature, you are still interested in finding out what is going on in the States and what the American companies are doing,” he said.

Convention organizers are expecting another record turnout of non-U.S. delegates next year, which helps expand the “international” in the International Council of Shopping Centers, Harris says. “Globalization is a reality, not a buzzword anymore,” he said. “As a result, international attendance can only continue to grow.”