In a couple of months I’ll be attending my 14th successive annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. At most of them it’s been a relatively smooth ride – the right credentials, the same hosts, familiar terrain…quite a breeze really.
But outside that privileged bubble for the first time has been quite an eye opener. My long-time hostess has sold Concordia, her modest but welcoming three star hotel. Having lost that relationship, means I now get to feel what most attendees take as the norm – too many people scrumming for too few beds.
Even Airbnb can’t help. For a brief moment it looked like I’d hit the jackpot when accommodation was sent to my inbox at £310 a night. But after entering the WEF dates, that quote rocketed to £6,400 a night; 20 times what’s charged those other 51 weeks of the year. So the remote one bedroomed flat I found at R70k (ouch!) for six nights seems almost a bargain.
There must surely come a point when it all becomes just too expensive. But for me, as December’s ANC elective conference is just around the corner, bringing the prospect of a new Team SA at Davos 2018. Experiencing that will be worth every overpriced Swiss coffee.
