In our constant effort to expand our services and improve our offerings to our customers, last November 7 and 8 we were at the "International Luxury Property and Residency Conference (ILP)" at the Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic, Cannes - France.

ILP is the 3rd most important world conference and exhibition dedicated to high-end real estate, residence and citizenship by investment programs and personal financial consulting.  Besides Cannes, ILP organizes similar exhibitions in different cities of the world, such as Mumbai, Monaco, Bangkok, Moscow or London, but in all these cases focused on final clients.

The Expo combined a conference on the first day (November 7), with an exhibition, workshops and individual meetings between attendees and exhibitors on the second day (November 8).

As a summary, ILP included in this opportunity:

• A conference with government representatives, leaders of the world's most prominent immigration companies and major real estate developers;
• An exhibition with samples of products and services from around 100 international companies;
• The roundtable "Global Challenges of the Immigration Market" for government representatives only;
• A press conference for major commercial and industrial media from 30 countries;
• A variety of other activities, including seminars, one-on-one meetings with clients.

Exhibitors and attendees

The exhibition brought together leading companies from 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Cyprus, Malta and other EU states. Exhibitors included immigration companies, real estate developers, legal and financial firms, and private banks.

The most common ILP exhibitors are:

• Government agencies from 30 countries, including the US, Canada, the EU (Spain, Cyprus, Malta, etc.), the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis) and more;
• International associations;
• Prominent immigration companies and leaders in the luxury real estate market;
• Major personal financial consultancies; and
• Other leaders in related fields.

In total, around 100 companies participated in this edition of the Expo in Cannes.

Program of the event

During the first day we participated in different talks organized by important international companies specialized in immigration, real estate promotion and financial consultancy.

One of the most interesting sections of this first day was the one related to the immigration programs in force in more than 25 countries, such as: Canada, Central American countries, Portugal, Malta, USA and Greece.

It was excellent to know, first hand:

• The pros and cons of each immigration program in more than 25 countries;
• Receive detailed explanations about the best procedures for obtaining visas and nationalities;
• Find out what the main benefits are for people who decide to travel and live in one of these countries.

The companies that have come to the PIL come from many different parts of the world. The environment was very heterogeneous. We were able to discuss ideas and strategies with professionals from Greece, UK, Canada, Dubai, Malta, Cyprus, France, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, USA, Granada, Thailand, Romania, Spain, Nairobi and Ukraine.

On the second day, the exhibiting companies displayed their immigration programs and were available to explain, in detail, what they consist of to all interested persons or companies.

In the same way, real estate agencies, private banks and other companies explained to the attendees, without any doubt, potential clients, each of the services they offer.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, this has been a very enriching experience, which has given us new and excellent perspectives or professional approaches to optimize our daily work. It was the great opportunity to establish new strategic alliances in 30 countries.

On the other hand, we could see that our service offer is very competitive, and although we still have a lot to improve and learn, today we are in a better position than yesterday to offer our clients effective and high-end help in areas such as

• Immigration (temporary or permanent residence in Spain);
• Acquisition of luxury real estate in Spain (for personal use, to secure assets, to create cash flow or to obtain temporary or permanent residence through investment)
• Consultancy for processing Spanish nationality.