The countdown to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos has started in earnest. Today’s New York Times has an article about the attempts to encourage peaceful demonstration in the village during the summit.
In the current climate, I hope and expect that Davos will be spared the disruptive clashes of 2000 and 2001. The Forum itself has made tremendous efforts to open up to dissident voices (the 2003 programme includes some open sessions, where Forum participants will be able to meet with the interested public — outside the Congress Centre, of course). And the actions of the police, detailed in The Times, sound sensible.
But it isn’t just the demonstrations that have disenchanted the people of Davos. Much to many people’s surprise, most of the Davosers are not that thrilled by the Forum’s annual visit. The quote from Alexandra Bossi of Parsenn Sport in The Times would be echoed by many, from my experience: “From a business point of view, WEF is bad for us.” There are exceptions, of course. The most expensive hotels, the Belvedere and the Seehof, do very well thanks to the catering and service-intensive guests that stay. The smaller hotels, although full, have to turn away their regular skiing business, in effect replacing people who come for two weeks (Europeans have long holidays) with difficult Forum guests who stay four or five nights at most.