Davos plebeians shrug at the elite gathering

DAVOS, Switzerland — It brings in $45 million for the Swiss economy each year and turns the diminutive, snow-clogged streets here into a living Hollywood Walk of Fame for global elite types.

But some residents of this Swiss mountain resort have mixed feelings about the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, which began Wednesday and runs through Saturday.

"There are locals who are against the idea of the WEF coming to Davos, even though they make a lot of money from it," said Heinz Roth, 63, a ski instructor who was having a beer at the end of the workday at Davos' main train station.

Roth has been guiding the area's well-heeled visitors around the surrounding Alpine slops for close to 40 years.

"Too much security and disruption is what a lot of residents think, but it's not as bad as it used to be," he said. "There's fewer activists around, and the police are better at controlling it."

Roth stared into his beer for a few moments, then added: "St. Moritz (a more upmarket, rival ski resort to Davos a few hours away) may be more famous than us, but it is also jealous that we have the WEF each year."

Reto Baumgartner, a retired taxi driver from Davos, was sitting at the same table as Roth and a few others who meet early each evening at a small diner-like cafe adjacent to the Davos Platz train station.

Baumgartner appeared to give serious consideration to the question of whether the annual meeting is a force for good or ill for Davos — Europe's highest elevation city with a population of about 11,000. In halting English he opined: "Money, money."

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When prompted, Roth said that he was not tempted to come out of retirement to bolster his pension by getting back into the trade.

Money was apparently on the mind of Pope Francis, who provided a message for the opening ceremony that was read to the crowd.

"I ask you to! ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it," Cardinal Peter Turkson said on the pontiff's behalf. "The growth of equality demands something more than economic growth, even though it presupposes it."

Hans Bolt, a retired car mechanic, was pessimistic that anything discussed at the WEF would help anyone.

"The WEF people talk a lot, but when they go home they forget it all."