Kim Waddup, president of the aiGroup, comments on the results of the VI Saint Petersburg International Foreign Property Show, 1-2 April 2011

– How would you evaluate the exhibition that you have just held? Did it satisfy your expectations?

– This marvellous event exceeded all our expectations. In general Saint Petersburg is, for us, as organisers of the show, a very interesting market. Firstly, our pavilion in LenExpo is a wonderful exhibition space. Secondly, we succeeded in making a great impression on the city's inhabitants, with statistics indicating in excess of 7000 visitors, not to mention the 160 participants, a fact that only confirms what we ourselves witnessed over the two days of the event. The volume of visitors was extremely high and the flow of interested parties very steady.

– Several participants have expressed a desire to extend the exhibition over three days, so that they can maximise on the opportunity to work a Sunday too….

– The thing is this. If you organise a four-day exhibition, then you get a situation in which the first two days are great, the next so-so and the last, very slow. In a three-day event, two days bring excellent results, and the third much less so. Therefore our decision to run a two-day show can be explained by the fact that both days will 99.9% assuredly yield maximum results and prove the most effective. And this, I might add, is good for everybody. It is only natural that participants would want to spend more time in Saint Petersburg, to look around the city and so forth. But based on my extensive professional experience, we have found the ideal format for an exhibition such as this one - two days during which public interest is concentrated to the maximum on our event. Moscow exhibitions, by the way, also follow this pattern.

– Do Saint Petersburg clients in particular and Russian customers in general exhibit any particular identifying characteristics?

– In general I would evaluate the Saint Petersburg market as very ample, in a constant state of growth and most importantly, with a potential for further expansion. We consider it our primary objective to tap into this very potential. In the big cities - Moscow, Petersburg etc, attracting a large number of visitors to the show is not easy. But we have gone a step further - we have brought together our target audience, those individuals and groups who have a real and concrete interest in the acquisition of property abroad.

As far as the Russian market in general is concerned, I would say that it is very ample indeed and has huge potential for growth. Peculiarities of Russia clients would be, probably, that they ask a lot of questions. And this is not at all because they are overly contentious, but simply because Russians have not yet accumulated sufficient experience in the acquisition of foreign property. In Europe this market has already been in existence for 40-50 years and therefore deals go through without extensive questioning. A Russian consumer is only just beginning this journey, and therefore here you have to be prepared for extensive communication.

– What would you say about the preferences of the Petersburg public? To what extent do their interests match those of Moscow clients?

– In this regard, Moscow and Saint Petersburg differ considerably. This is due to historical considerations. Many factors dictate and define demand. Of course, one of the first is the geographical proximity of Petersburg to Finland and the Baltic States. However, to a great extent, demand is dictated by the fact that Moscow is the main transport hub that offers the opportunity to hop on a plane from the capital to any part of the world, far more so than Saint Petersburg, whose airport is still being renovated. I once had the experience of flying to a European destination and as it turned out, someone I knew was also due to go there, and that moreover that our flights coincided. We assumed that we would be flying together on the same plane. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that seven planes (yes, seven!) planes were flying at the very same time and on the very same route!

– To what extent is your exhibition in demand when it comes to participants of the foreign property market?

– The Saint Petersburg International Property Show is the biggest in terms of the exhibition's spatial dimension of all the foreign property shows in Russia. In Moscow this exhibition is exceedingly popular. There is simply not enough space to accommodate all the would-be exhibitors. So at the Moscow event we add an extra pavilion of 50 stands to the main exhibition hall and keep a waiting list of around 100-150 further companies, which would like to take part if a slot becomes available.

– Why is that?

– I think that participants in the market have begun to understand the situation better. They have tried working with, say, Great Britain and Germany and found that European consumers in themselves are not as interesting as they had thought. They are therefore ready to try working with Russia. It's true that all too often companies expect an instant response to their appearance on the market, which simply does not happen. In the beginning one must establish a foothold in the market and this takes time. Let's say, I am a consumer and I want to buy a property abroad. I go to an exhibition, size up what's on offer and then I visit the next one where I meet a familiar company. "Ah, so it's not your first time here! You really are interested in the Russian market!" This process is necessary for the companies themselves too. In order to work effectively here, they need to get to know Russia properly, the specifics of the market and the consumer mentality. At any one exhibition there are a lot of new companies, but they are not filling the void of those who have already participated in and worked on the last St Petersburg International Property Show and who have ceased to come. On the contrary, we have a lot of "return" companies.

– Have you had the chance to talk to the show's participants? What are they saying?

– I interact with client firms all the time, but not to a vast extent. After all, they are here to work with clients. Everyone with whom I have spoken has been very happy. There are always those that are predisposed to seeing the downside. What can I say to that? Well, it takes effort and dedication. We have done our bit by providing and equipping a place to work, we have marketed the event to bring in the public and the rest is up to the participants themselves. Do what it takes to make a visitor to the show your client. Some companies, for example, conduct their work here in accordance with the highest possible professional standards. Should a client express an interest in a particular property, then the company representative will formulate a proposal there and then, so that literally within a couple of days the potential customer is offered the opportunity to go on a reconnaissance trip to their country of preference, thus stepping out of the ranks of potential client to become an actual and real one.

– What are your thoughts on the global economic crisis? How has it had an impact on the European property market?

– I would say that there was no such crisis. At the very beginning of what was being referred to as the global economic crisis, many people asked us what would happen in our business area, to our show, and that surely, judging by the situation, it would fall by the wayside. I answered, nothing of the sort, the show would go ahead as usual, and what's more it would flourish. And I was right. We did not experience the recession in any way at all. Yes, a specific situation arose in the world that forced people to re-evaluate things. But at the exhibitions that we organised in 2008-2009 we witnessed an unprecedented influx of visitors. Would-be attendees were so great in number that we ran out of space in the cloakrooms, meaning that people had to walk amongst the stands with their coats draped over their arms. With regard to the economic situation, it has to be said though that Russia came out of the crisis somewhat more easily than many other countries. Even now the situation in Russia has already not only stabilised, but has begun to show growth - a rise in salaries, the quality of life, in short, an improvement in everything! The worsening of the economic climate in other countries, however regrettable it is to say it, has played into our hands: the price of real estate has dropped considerably. Hence for Russians now is the best time to acquire property abroad. You might be offered a price of 200 thousand Euros, but if you are brave enough to negotiate and ask for a reduction (even a very considerable one) a deal can almost always be struck. After all, and hand on heart, prices before the recession were overinflated.

– So you are saying that the real estate market did not slacken during the crisis?

– Not in the least. The only difference was that during the crisis finalising deals took longer to accomplish. People thoughts about things for longer, weighing up the pros and cons more carefully, looking more fully at all the possible options and so on. In general, there may or may not have been growth, but sales continued. Particularly when we saw growth in the inexpensive real estate market, especially in Bulgaria. Overall, I would have to say, that in this business, like in any business in fact, it is important to love what you do, because only then can you consider yourself a professional. If you know how to win people over, talk to them in such a way as make them forget other issues, get them excited by the idea and the possibilities, then everything else takes care of itself.

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The Saint Petersburg International Exhibition of Foreign Property >>
Exhibitors at the VI International Saint Petersburg Foreign Property Show, 1-2 April 2011, share their impressions of the event >>
Kim Waddup, president of the aiGroup, comments on the results of the VI Saint Petersburg International Foreign Property Show, 1-2 April 2011

26-27 October 2012:
• IX St. Petersburg International Property Show

30-31 March 2012:
• VIII St. Petersburg International Property Show

28-29 October 2011:
• VII St. Petersburg International Property Show

1-2 April 2011:
• The Saint Petersburg International Exhibition of Foreign Property
• Exhibitors at the VI International Saint Petersburg Foreign Property Show, 1-2 April 2011, share their impressions of the event
• Kim Waddup, president of the aiGroup, comments on the results of the VI Saint Petersburg International Foreign Property Show, 1-2 April 2011

15-16 October 2010:
• St. Petersburg is a special city

2-3 April 2010:
• The 4th St. Petersburg International Property Show - April 2010
• International Property Shows Set Priorities

16-17 October 2009:
• St. Petersburg International Property Show is a Success Story
• French real estate market
• Market is Undoubtedly Alive
• Diversity of Offers as a Trend
• St. Petersburg market continues to grow

3-4 April 2009:
• Russia. St. Petersburg market shows potential