What is considered the most elite conference in the world has been postponed, and possibly canceled, yet again due to Covid concerns.
The World Economic Forum annual meeting, known as Davos, will have to wait for the second year in a row. Davos was meant to take place from January 17 to 21 in the Swiss mountain resort. But due to Omicron’s emergence, now sweeping across the world, the meeting has been postponed for the year.
The Davos conference was last held in person in 2020. More than 100 billionaires and 53 international leaders, including heads of state or government leaders, attended the exclusive conference.
It costs approximately $50,000 per person for a “white badge,” which grants access to the elite guest list. Membership partnerships range in fees from $65,000 to a whopping $650,000.
Conference organizers hope that Davos 2022 will still take place but be pushed back to the summer. However, that exact same plan folded last year. For the 2021 conference, it was announced a few months before that the winter conference would be moved to May 2021 in Singapore in order to avoid the Covid pandemic. But this was then delayed until August 2021, and then finally, completely canceled.
The World Economic Forum has been quick to downplay the fact the conference has been postponed again for 2022. A spokesperson for WF said that the annual meeting is only one part of 20 platforms for members.
Omicron became the most recent variant when it emerged in November. Since then, it has been spreading quickly, and in some areas overtaking other variants to become the most dominant one. It still remains clear how severe of a strain it is.
While quarantine rules are not in effect right now in Switzerland, WEF planners feared that continuously changing local restrictions could hinder the conference, and it was best to postpone it.
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