23 Jan Eric Saunders and Rob Petrie Attend the 15th Annual Luxury Real Estate International Symposium in Barcelona, Spain

Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate recently hosted its 15th Annual Luxury Real Estate International Symposium Wednesday, January 18th through the 20th at The One Barcelona Hotel in Barcelona, Spain. The event attracted top luxury real estate professionals, brokers, and management from all over the world to exchange ideas, explore future business opportunities and generate global partnerships.

The International Symposium kicked off Wednesday evening with a rooftop Welcome Reception where attendees enjoyed networking over drinks and hors d’oeuvres while watching the sunset over the beautiful city of Barcelona.

The conference program commenced Thursday with featured speaker Xavier Vilalta, Director of Vilalta Studio who explored how sustainability is the new luxury and shared how innovation from tradition in design is the path to achieve it. This informative session was a look inside the changing needs of luxury home connoisseurs, current trends and the desire to honor tradition. The Thursday program also featured an insightful session on how to drive more traffic to your website with guidance from industry pioneer Morgan Carey, CEO of Real Estate Webmasters. The group learned tips on how to build their SEO pages properly, gain organic search rankings and get leads without paying.

Thursday afternoon and evening attendees enjoyed a spectacular property tour hosted by local LRE® member Amat Luxury showcasing some of the best Barcelona properties currently on the market. The tour concluded with a private reception at El Tros – bar de Vins.

The program continued Friday morning with two panel discussions. The first panel discussed the COVID years, and the changing needs of international luxury homeowners presented by Laura Miller (Houlihan Lawrence), Mario Vargas (Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions), Olivia Hsu Decker (Golden Gate Sotheby’s Intl. Realty), and Sandro Bolton (GriwaTreuhand AG). The panel was followed by a lively group discussion on the fundamentals of a “Bulletproof” business. The second panel of the day was presented by Diletta Giorgolo (Italy Sotheby’s Intl. Realty), Frank Aazami (Russ Lyon Sotheby’s Intl. Realty), Jane Powers (Ewing & Clark Inc.), and Julia Hoagland (Compass New York), their discussion centered around resetting expectation and creating urgency. The conversation explored how to adjust their best practices to get buyers to buy and sellers to sell now.

In the afternoon, attendees enjoyed a private walking tour of Barcelona followed by skip the line entry into Casa Milà, regarded as Antoni Gaudi’s most iconic work of civic architecture.

The International Symposium ended with a closing dinner at Restaurante Vivo Tapas, located in the historic heart of Barcelona, featuring local gourmet cuisine and wine.

Thank you to our event sponsors Amat Luxury, Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions and Real Estate Webmasters.

Following the International Symposium is the 25th Annual Luxury Real Estate European Ski Trip, taking place this year in Baqueira-Beret, Spain from January 21st to 29th.

View photos from the 15th Annual Luxury Real Estate International Symposium at: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAoWgS

Learn more about upcoming LRE® events at: www.LuxuryRealEstate.com/Events

About LuxuryRealEstate.com 

A worldwide collection of top brokers representing the finest luxury properties across the globe, Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate has been leading the real estate industry since 1986. This hand-selected group of more than 130,000 professionals with properties in more than 70 countries collectively sells over $300 billion of real estate annually, making it the most elite and comprehensive luxury real estate network in the world.

Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate’s global network is showcased on LuxuryRealEstate.com, the No.1 portal for luxury properties online, presenting more multi-million-dollar estates than any near-peer. Frequently distinguished as a leader in the industry, the company has been recognized by Forbes, the Inc. 5000 List and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, they have been honored multiple times by The Webby Awards, ADDY Awards and most recently awarded the ‘Best Directory or Search Engine Website’ in the 2022 Internet Advertising Competition Awards hosted by the Web Marketing Association.

For more information about Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, please visit www.LuxuryRealEstate.com.