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TERROR
gripped the hearts of foreign delegates and local
visitors as news of an armored vehicle crashed into a
five-star hotel in Makati.
This made attendance to the first Asian
International Real Estate Expo and Conference (Aireec) a
flop, its organizers admitted.
“That was an unseen circumstance,” Susan
Barlin said on Tuesday, explaining to a complaining
exhibitor why the 10,000 targeted attendance wasn’t
around when the Aireec began December 6. The expo
formally ended on Monday.
Barlin spoke in defense of a lackluster
attendance that the exhibitor of furniture from Sweden
said caused them to lose business. She didn’t elaborate,
but said they shelled out $2,000 for the expo.
An Aireec document said an exhibitor
paid $300 for every square meter of “superior” space, or
$500 per sq m for a “premium” exhibition space. A
minimum 9-sq-m space would cost $2,700 (P116,100 at
P43=$1)
for the five-day exhibit.
Barlin said she brought the complainant
before an exclusive roundtable discussion with the
BusinessMirror “so that the negative side of the expo,
as well as the positive, could be brought out.”
The First Asian International Real
Estate Expo & Conference (Aireec) 2007 is a
groundbreaking event that was meant to bring to
Asia all real-estate developers, practitioners, trade
organizations, speakers, investors, professionals,
government sectors and end-users, gathering nearly
10,000 participants and 400 corporations.
Launched in October last year, the expo
was expected to gather participants from 400
corporations from 54 different countries.
Based on the floor plan, an estimated
1,000 exhibitors should have filled three halls of the
Philippine International Convention Center. But there
were only roughly a hundred in each hall.
The expo began a week after tear gas and
shots were fired inside the Peninsula Manila to force
the surrender of a handful of putschists, led by elected
Sen. Antonio Trillanes.
Barlin said people began canceling hours
after watching the news carried by international news
agencies.
“If I wanted to go to profit, I would’ve
canceled the whole expo, but I didn’t,” Barlin said at a
hotel, where some speakers were billeted.
She didn’t say how many of the targeted
number of participants and exhibitors canceled their
travel to the Philippines.
That the numbers are substantial was
seen in Friday’s sparse attendance in rooms for
discussion, as well as the lack of human traffic in Hall
B.
Steel frames were arranged in one
corner, while only footsteps echoed on the wooden hall.
Nonetheless, Barlin said she remains
optimistic that the targeted P10-billion investments to
the Philippines because of the expo would be met in the
following months.
Barlin, who is also the Department of
Tourism’s special envoy for investment and tourism
promotions, said she will meet investors in February.
Property broker CB Richard Ellis also
shares that optimism, saying the recent standoff at the
Manila Pen proves that investor confidence continues to
remain high despite several controversies continuing to
hound the Arroyo administration.
“People power or change of leadership
through mass uprising is not entirely feasible as
Filipinos are more discerning given their rising level
of maturity,” CBRE said in a paper released during the
Aireec.
Aireec speaker and Portside Properties
Inc. executive Anthony Macaluso added that the
Philippines could focus on the “boomers” market looking
for the Philippines’s offering of “pristine beaches and
warm and likeable people.” |
