The sheer scale of the event is breathtaking: the two million sq ft leasing mall where major landlords woo retailers to take space in their malls is three quarters of a mile across, and it can take half an hour to get from one meeting to the next. And that is just one of two parallel exhibitions: there is also a 350,000-sq ft space devoted to trade suppliers to the shopping centre industry.

ICSC chairman John Bucksbawn, CEO of General Growth Properties pointed out that the amount of exhibition space had doubled in just one year.

But despite the practical problems associated with an event on such a scale veterans insist it is an unrivalled place to do business. CB Richard Ellis in the US calculates that fully 30 per cent of all its retail deals are done either at the show or on the back of the event.”It's a deal-making convention,” said Stephen Sjurset, senior associate with CBRE in New York.

And ICSC president Mike Kercheval summed up the event's status when he said: “This is the world's premier real estate event.”

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