Trump Takes Over Davos As WEF Circus Rolls In

Davos- Around 1880, English people suffering from the then-fatal and raging tuberculosis sought refuge in the mountain air of Davos in the hope of getting well and also built a church here. That church is now the USA House for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting week.

The historic church will host US President Donald Trump, his cabinet colleagues, businessmen, and others attending the five-day annual meeting of over 3,000 global leaders starting Monday.

By far, Trump is already being seen as the biggest star of this year's congregation of rich and powerful from across the world in this Swiss ski resort town, which first rose on the global map as a health tourism destination due to the tuberculosis raging across Europe in the late 19th century.

The Englische Kirche church on the main promenade of this small town was apparently to be demolished in the late 1970s to make way for an apartment complex, but locals came together to stop that.

Now, it is listed as a historical monument and has been taken over by the Gemeindebund of the Free Evangelical Church of Switzerland.

Despite the WEF now being the biggest claim to fame of Davos on the global stage, it offers much more than that, especially for skiing enthusiasts.

It is also a home to the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, who moved here to help his ailing wife live longer.

Once famous for being a summer health resort, Davos has gradually emerged as a major winter sports hub in the Alps, but its biggest claim to fame for the past five decades has been the World Economic Forum's annual meeting every January, beginning in 1971.

The Geneva-based WEF is hosting its 56th annual meeting here beginning Monday, where more than 3,000 leaders from across the world will participate in a high-profile talkfest for five days.

To cover this global elite jamboree, there are more than 500 journalists and thousands of support staff as well.

While such a high-profile event leads to all hotels and rental apartments being occupied, the die-hard winter sports fans still throng this place as the WEF week also means relatively smaller crowds in ski areas and on mountain cableways.

The only drawback for tourists is that they cannot stay within the town, which has less than 10 medium-sized hotels and about 40 small ones, including in nearby areas like Klosters and Dorf.

MENAFN18012026000215011059ID1110616445