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to the annual talkathon of the rich and powerful from across the
world for over four decades, this Swiss resort town has its own
history of being a place of eminence for medical tourism as also for
winter sports. With the annual five-day powwow of business and global
leaders beginning under the aegis of World Economic Forum (WEF), the
small alpine town is buzzing with top CEOs and others who matter in
black business suits and the police and army people in
orange-and-blue dress posted to provide security for such a
large-scale event. Still, the streets are not totally devoid of usual
skiing enthusiasts and some tourists devouring the rich history of
this small Swiss town on snow-capped Alps. Once famous for being a
summer health resort, Davos has gradually emerged as a major winter
sport hub on Alps, but its biggest claim to fame for the past four
decades has been World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting every January,
beginning 1971. The Geneva-based WEF is hosting its 46th Annual
Meeting here beginning today, wherein more than 2,500 leaders from
across the world including 50 heads of government are expected to
indulge in a high-profile talk fest for five days. To cover this
global elite jamboree, there are nearly 1,000 journalists and support
staff as well. While such a high-profile event leads to all hotels
and rental apartments being occupied, the die-hard winter sport fans
still throng this place as 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 near-by
areas like Klosters and Dorf. Besides, the so-called WAGs (wives and
girlfriends of those attending WEF meet) are also around in large
numbers on ski circuits and at various tourist destinations of the
town that comprises two big parallel roads and numerous connecting
alleys. Davos' history as a modern and popular holiday destination
dates back to 150 years ago in 1865 when first winter guests arrived
here. Till then, it was just a summer mountain health resort with a
strong reputation for treatment of tuberculosis patients.
One
day in February 1865, Doctor Friedrich Unger and Hugo Richter from
Germany arrived here and began a course of treatment on a bed made
from a hay sled covered with boards. The treatment rapidly proved
successful and both men were able to return to work. Soon after,
Doctor Friedrich Unger returned to Davos and worked as a doctor here
for over 20 years. Hugo Richter married a Davos girl and took over
the management of a guest house here. Later, he also moved his
publishing business to this small town and began printing two local
newspapers. Another feather in its cap is Davos being home to Ernst
Ludwig Kirchner, who spent his last 20 years in this town, which is
full of many of his finest paintings. Besides a museum devoted to
Kirchner's work, his paintings can be seen anywhere and everywhere in
Davos. Towards the end of his life, Kirchner suffered a major nervous
breakdown and spent his last days in a sanatorium in Davos. This is
the same sanatorium that inspired Noble laureate Thomas Mann's
classic novel 'The Magic Mountain'. Davos' annual affair with WEF
began in 1971 when the Forum was known as European Management Forum
and that year WEF founder Klaus Schwab invited over 400 European
business leaders for a meeting at Davos Congress Centre under the
patronage of European Commission. Subsequently, WEF was formed and
leaders from across the world began congregating in Davos at the end
of January every year. Over the years, WEF Annual Meeting in Davos
grew larger and larger and has been host to many historic accords and
meetings, including one draft agreement on Gaza and Jericho between
the then Israel Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestine
Liberation Organisation Chairman Yasser Arafat in 1994. In 1988,
Greece and Turkey also signed their "Davos Declaration"
here, which saw the two countries avoiding a war, while North and
South Korea held their first ministerial level meetings in Davos in
1989 -- a year that also saw German chancellor Helmut Kohl here
discussing German reunification and then the knocking down of Berlin
Wall. In the past 46 years, only once WEF has held its Annual Meeting
outside Davos when in 2002 it decided to shift the venue to New York
to show solidarity with that city and the American public after the
9/11 terrorist attacks. India's presence has also been increasing at
the Davos meeting, during which hundreds of Indians can be seen
strolling on its narrow roads, one of which has been hosting an
'India Adda' for many years. Since last year, it has been renamed
Make In India lounge to showcase the flagship programme of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, but regulars still prefer to call it by the
old name of India Adda.
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