What is the World Economic Forum
What is the annual meeting?
Taking a walk through the sleepy town of Davos Switzerland, you would never know that there is an annual meeting that occurs each year bringing some of the worlds most powerful individual on a yearly basis.
A small town of only a few thousand, grows to over 30,000 for the one week in January when the World Economic Forum is held. Of those 30,000 people, about 3,000 are official participants including politicians, business leaders and academics. Realistically this means only a fraction of attendees hold official badges.
From CNBC:
“It’s about connections,” he said. “Every panel, you can just watch it later, but connections you will build and the face-to-face can only happen if you’re physically in the same place.”
And who wouldn’t want to network with billionaires while crushing runs on the local ski mountain?
BACKGROUND
The World Economic Forum (WEF), based in Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland, was founded in 1971 as a not-for-profit organization. It was granted “other international body” status in January 2015 by the Swiss Federal Government under the Swiss Host-State Act (International Organization status requires multiple governments). The WEF’s mission is cited as “committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas”
THE ANNUAL MEETING
The flagship event of the World Economic Forum is the invitation-only annual meeting held at the end of January in Davos, Switzerland, bringing together chief executive officers from its 1,000 member companies, as well as selected politicians, representatives from academia, NGOs, religious leaders, and the media in an alpine environment. The winter discussions ostensibly focus around key issues of global concern (such as the globalization, capital markets, wealth management, international conflicts, environmental problems and their possible solutions). “Q&A: World Economic Forum 2009”Archived 23 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine BBC News.
The participants are also taking part in role playing events, such as the Investment Heat Map.Informal winter meetings may have led to as many ideas and solutions as the official sessions.
At the 2018 annual meeting, more than 3,000 participants from nearly 110 countries participated in over 400 sessions. Participation included more than 340 public figures, including more than 70 heads of state and government and 45 heads of international organizations; 230 media representatives and almost 40 cultural leaders were represented.
As many as 500 journalists from online, print, radio, and television take part, with access to all sessions in the official program, some of which are also webcast. Not all the journalists are given access to all areas, however. This is reserved for white badge holders. “Davos runs an almost caste-like system of badges”, according to BBC journalist Anthony Reuben. “A white badge means you’re one of the delegates — you might be the chief executive of a company or the leader of a country (although that would also get you a little holographic sticker to add to your badge), or a senior journalist. An orange badge means you’re just a run-of-the-mill working journalist.”
THE UNHEARD STORYS FROM DAVOS
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, homeowners hike the price for their apartments on Airbnb. With over 30,000 attendees, many of whom are elites, the price for an apartment will jump to unseen heights
The few thousand industry leaders, politicians, celebrities and hangers-on about to embark on their annual pilgrimage to the Swiss Alps seek to block book the best rooms and houses in the most secure locations — but even the most modest come at a cost.
Many Davos locals are able to pay their rent for the entire year based on one week for rentals during the annual meeting. Although many of the locals do not love the event, this still helps the local economy tremendously for the entire year. Home owners are not alone though, restaurants make off well by raising their prices to insane numbers during WEF. A hotdog for over $20 is not an uncommon site during the World Economic Forum.
For hotels, there is an “unspoken rule which is [you can charge up to] 20 per cent on top of the top season. Under the table I have no idea whether there is a limit on it”
This is great in many ways for the local economy, but also hurts the town as well. Because rental prices are so high during the event, many places in the downtown area will stay vacant for the entire year except during WEF.
It seems the “unspoken rule” often goes unobserved: a double room at the Hotel Derby for the three nights of the conference was advertised for €7,484 (on January 4); the same period the next week cost €237 — a reduction of almost 97 per cent. Other than the dates, the only discernible difference between the offerings is that the former includes breakfast.
To find housing for the world economic forum at a reasonable cost, this site seems to help newcomers identify and find good housing options.
CRAZY FACTS ABOUT THE WEF
Facts take from from this article
955.90 The cheapest hotel room in Davos on Wednesday night will set you back 955.90 Swiss francs (€840), according to booking.com. That price is for for an economy single at the Zentrum Haus Hotel. Only three hotels have room available for January 23rd, with the most expensive option being a (somewhat poky, 12 square metre) room costing 10,012 francs at the Hotel Derby. At least breakfast is included in the price.
2002 This is the only year since its inception that the WEF meeting did not take place in Davos. Instead, it was held in New York as a sign of solidarity after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001.
4C This is the maximum temperature expected in Davos on Tuesday, the first official day of the WEF annual meeting. The minimum, meanwhile, will be a bone-chilling -14C. Things are not expected to warm up during the week either.
Nothing: This is how much you will pay to attend one of the Open Forum events organized by the WEF during its Davos meeting. The events are open to the public but seating is limited so the WEF recommends you come early because people start lining up for tickets around 90 minutes beforehand.
94 million: A study by researchers at the University of St Gallen estimated that the WEF annual meeting in 2017 generated revenue of 94 million francs across Switzerland. Meanwhile, local, cantonal and federal authorities received tax revenues of between 9.3 million francs and 10.5 million francs as a result of the event.
22That’s the percentage of Davos attendees in 2019 who are women. This is one percentage point higher than in 2018.
5000 The Swiss government has made provision for the deployment of up to 5,000 armed services personnel for the WEF annual meeting in Davos for the 2019–2021 period. The exact number of armed services personnel deployed in 2019 remains, however, under wraps.
41 Hungry? A ‘Tokyo’ menu made up of eight California rolls will cost you 41 francs (€36) at the Pöstli Lounge at the Morosani Posthotel in Davos. Olives cost 6 francs and jumbo fries with cocktail sauce 8 francs. While this may seem expensive, it is actually not bad value for Switzerland.
130 This is the estimated number of additional take-offs and landings from Zurich airport during the WEF meeting.
500 That is the number of journalists covering Davos in 2019.
12The longest ski run in the Davos Klosters ski area is the classic Weissfluh-Gipfel–Küblis run at 12 kilometres. Four of the six winter sport resorts in the area are open during the WEF, with only the Pischa and the Rinerhorn closed. One local resident told The Local that the WEF period is a great time to take to the slopes in Davos because many people assume they can’t go skiing in the area at this time.
Read also: Davos 2019 — what you need to know about ‘the world’s most exclusive business bash’
