Switzerland Today
Greetings from Zurich!
If any of you fancy visiting Davos next January when WEF is in town, be prepared to pay at least CHF1,000 per night for a bed. As WEF wraps up for another year, its director has aimed a parting shot at the freeloaders looking to make a fast buck.
More on that later, but first the news of the day.
In the news: Israeli President faces criminal complaint, a Swiss chocolate maker ‘sponsors war’ and a breakthrough in long Covid research.
- Swiss prosecutors have confirmed that Israeli President Isaac Herzog is the subject of a criminal complaint from an NGO.
- Ukraine has added chocolate maker Barry Callebaut to its “international sponsor of war” list for continuing to do business in Russia.
- A Franco-Swiss study predicts that Europe’s glacierswill shrink by 34-50% by 2050 due to the climate crisis.
- Zurich University Hospital research has worked out why some people suffer from severe effects of Covid much longer than others.
- The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency predicts an “excellent future” for nuclear energy in Switzerland.
WEF rip-off
Empty beds and empty pockets. Even the director of World Economic Forum is complaining about the exorbitant cost of Davos as the annual meeting winds up.
Alois Zinggli has told the Tages AnzeigerExternal link that there isn’t a bed to be found in Davos for under CHF1,000 a night while the high rollers are in town each January.
The bounty is so profitable that chalet owners don’t even bother renting out their properties for the remainder of the year.
A study by the University of St Gallen showed WEF adding nearly CHF200 million to the Swiss economy. But how much of that ends up in the pockets of money-grabbing landlords?
Zinggli is also angry at the growing number of “freeloaders” who flock to Davos each year to promote their own brands on the coat tails of WEF.
WEF’s lawyers have been busy protecting the WEF brand against cheap imitators.
Advantage Federer
Talking of mark-ups – the Swiss sport shoe brand On, backed by Roger Federer, has been in the news for the amount of profit it makes on its products.
The consumer forum K-Tipp has taken On to task with some detailed researchExternal link.
This shows shoes being made in Vietnam for CHF20.80 and then sold in Switzerland for CHF445.
This gives On shoes a higher mark-up than competitor brands, such as Adidas and Puma.
On defended itself to Swiss public broadcaster SRFExternal link by pointing out the cost of innovation, marketing, logistics and of warehouses in Switzerland.
But the criticism doesn’t end there. Shoes shop entrepreneur Guillaume Morand has also complained to Blick.ch about the quality of On shoesExternal link.
“In the industry, all experts ask how it is possible to charge so much money for bad shoes with so little technology,” he said.
“I would never wear a pair of them myself. Neither do any of my colleagues and employees, our opinion is unanimous.”
I guess it’s a matter of opinion – and size of wallet.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
