Davos beyond WEF: Skiing to Sherlock to Sanatorium

Davos, Jan 19 As the rich and powerful of the world debate here the 'collaboration in an intelligent age' over the next five days, this small Swiss ski resort town will also offer them its own history to ponder over. Once known for health tourism, always frequented by skiing enthusiasts and also home to the Sherlock Homes creator who moved here to help his ailing wife live longer, Davos is also home to the annual week-long pow-wow of global elite in sub-zero temperatures and that has made it into a host for a talkfest for all problems plaguing or facing the world. The five-day World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will begin on Monday evening and will continue till Friday, where approximately 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries will discuss innovative strategies to revitalize growth, harness transformative technologies, empower individuals and communities, protect the planet and drive collaboration amid economic fragmentation and geopolitical polarization. Once famous for being a summer health resort, Davos has gradually emerged as a major winter sports hub on the Alps, but its biggest claim to fame for the past four decades has been the World Economic Forum's annual meeting every January, beginning in 1971. Over the years, the WEF annual meeting at Davos grew 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.