Davos Man makes new friends
The cabal of plutocrats is hard to love, but the town of Davos at least is eager to welcome them back
Depending on your point of view, the World Economic Forum (WEF), traditionally held in the Swiss resort of Davos, is either a worthy attempt by world leaders to foster global harmony or the epicentre of an evil, shadowy cabal. If the latter, recent events have at least revealed the limits of its power. At the end of last year, to “the dismay of the world leaders, billionaires and City gossip columnists” who turn up, it was announced that the January shindig would be postponed yet again due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, says Jamie Nimmo in The Sunday Times. “Back in the wardrobe go the Moncler jackets, back in the hangar go the helicopters and private jets.”
Some delegates may of course have been relieved to be spared the ordeal of sharing “glorified dorm spaces in barebones chalets” and commuting to meetings from neighbouring villages using shuttle busses “whose schedules appear as closely guarded as North Korean nuclear launch codes”, says Peter Goodman in Vanity Fair. But others will be mourning the loss of this “exclusive zone” where they are “free to pursue deals and sundry shenanigans” while enjoying the cover of “participating in a virtuous undertaking”. Regular participants will know that the ultimate “mark of sophistication” is to spurn the meetings while enjoying the “notorious soirées full of privileged debauchery”.
Still, one gets the impression that Klaus Schwab (pictured), the head of the WEF, is unlikely to let things drift for too long, says Goodman. Davos is the flagship event of the WEF, which pays him a huge salary as well as covering the costs of “his globetrotting and the catering and security services at his palatial home in the Cologny neighbourhood of Geneva”, known as the “Beverly Hills of Switzerland”. Indeed, the WEF has spent almost 70 million Swiss francs (£57m) to buy land in the area, including two parcels bridging Schwab’s home and the Forum headquarters. The schmoozing trickle-down effect
It’s not just the “global elite” begging for a return of the “week-long schmoozefest” where “billionaires and autocrats mingle over canapés while activists protest in the frigid mountain air”, says David Gelles in The New York Times. As well as being host to a gathering of “individuals so wealthy and powerful that they play by their own set of rules”, Davos is a major contributor to the local economy. One study suggests the last meeting in January 2020 contributed about $120m to the
Swiss economy – $70m was spent in Davos alone, which has a year-round population of about 11,000.
The cancellation has been hard on hotels, which charged $1,000 to $10,000 a night as demand for accommodation from well-heeled delegates drastically overshadowed supply. With the resorts now forced to rely on trade from locals, they have been reduced to offering rooms for less than $300 a night on Expedia. As a result, even local critics of “Davos Man” are now changing their tune. The mayor of Davos had previously joined demonstrators against the event. He now admits that he is trying to woo the plutocrats back to their old lair.
“Davos 2020 contributed about $120m to the Swiss economy – $70m was spent in Davos alone”