Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Many concessions and handshakes were made at the WEF this year. The Swiss government remains largely quiet on US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Peace Council” in order to preserve good relations with Washington amid ongoing tariff negotiations. One concession Switzerland is not prepared to make is giving up Davos as the home of the WEF.
And as WEF participants leave the mountain resort, others in Switzerland are booking their holidays. Where are Swiss travellers heading – and which region is seeing fewer Swiss visitors?
Sunny regards from Bern,
Switzerland may be small, but Davos is smaller still – and the mountain resort is increasingly reaching its limits. This pressure could see Davos lose the World Economic Forum.
While more than 50 years of hosting the WEF have been a success for both the federal government and local organisers, the steady growth in participants and side events has pushed the town’s infrastructure “to breaking point”, reports the Blick.
Larry Fink, co-president of the WEF, told The Financial Times that alternative host cities are being considered, including Detroit, Dublin, Jakarta and Buenos Aires. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis stated that, “The WEF is enormously important for Switzerland. The Federal Council is very clear that it will do everything in its power to keep the WEF in Switzerland.” So far, however, no public comment has come from Fink’s Swiss counterpart, André Hoffmann.
According to Blick, plans are being discussed to ban most private vehicles from Davos during WEF week. Non-residents and guests without special accreditation would have to park at security checkpoints further down the valley.
Yet while governments and organisers debate the forum’s future location, much of the “real WEF” continues to take place behind the doors of private residences.
In an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), which dubbed him “the WEF’s secret host”, Marc Wegenstein offered a rare glimpse behind the façades of Davos’s residential properties where VIP guests stay and schmooze. He has catered to all kinds of requests: fermented horse milk, anti-dandruff shampoo and the occasional serving of caviar (though this is less in demand since Russians stopped attending, says Wegenstein). If the WEF ever relocates, one thing seems certain: it would be hard to replicate the Alpine village charm that has long shaped Davos’s offstage diplomacy .
To be the proverbial fly on the wall in a Davos residence might be the only way to gauge Switzerland’s true reaction to Donald Trump’s proposed “Peace Council”. Officially, the Swiss government has communicated that it will examinate the matter. Its primary focus remains on securing a trade agreement with Washington.
The trade balance between Switzerland and the US was too heavily skewed in Bern’s favour, which last summer led to the implementation of punitive tariffs of up to 39%. Bern is now keen to lock in the reduced 15% tariff rate in a binding agreement and is taking measures to avoid antagonising President Trump, reports Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
During a bilateral meeting at the WEF, Economics Minister Guy Parmelin, who also holds Switzerland’s rotating presidency this year, placed trade firmly at the centre of talks. “We note that the imbalance you mentioned in your speech is being corrected,” Parmelin told Trump. “According to our latest statistics, we now have a surplus of $8.8 billion (CHF6.96 billion) in favour of the United States.”
The development appeared to catch the US president off guard. Trump turned to his delegation for confirmation. “I think that in recent months, the trend has begun to reverse,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Parmelin later acknowledged that the data reflected only a “snapshot in time”. Swiss companies boosted exports earlier this year in anticipation of higher tariffs, smoothing the figures temporarily.
On Thursday, the Swiss economics minister said that a first round of technical negotiations would take place in Bern as soon as possible.
Two days of training and a checklist: in some cantons, fire safety inspections are carried out by volunteers and “amateurs”. Now, ahead of Basel’s Fasnacht, authorities have imposed a ban on open flames in certain “clique”-cellar establishments.
The thoroughness of fire safety inspections in restaurants, cafés and bars varies widely across Switzerland, with notable differences between cantons. In Jura and Geneva, inspectors undergo a mandatory one-week training course followed by an exam before qualifying as fire safety specialists.
In smaller municipalities of canton Neuchâtel, inspections may be carried out by elected members of the local legislature. These officials are responsible only for buildings deemed low risk, venues not exceeding a capacity of 300 people. Training in such cases may last just one or two days, supplemented by periodic refresher courses.
“They work with a checklist,” Pascal Chapuisod, mayor of Boudry and head of security told Swiss public broadcaster, RTS. “They check that emergency exits and stairwells are clear, and that firefighters can access the building.”
As awareness grows, several municipalities are now looking to hire private-sector specialists, according to RTS. Crans-Montana itself has reportedly commissioned an external company to support inspections.
The deadly New Year’s Day fire continues to shape safety measures across Switzerland. Ahead of Basel’s carnival on February 23, cantonal fire authorities announced they would inspect publicly accessible cellars in addition to carrying out random checks during the festivities. A fire ban has also been imposed on these establishments.
Where are you planning your next trip, dear Swiss Abroad? I’ll be heading to Marseille in February for the sea urchin festival – winter being peak season for many seafood delicacies. Travel within Switzerland is losing ground. The number of Swiss residents spending their holidays at home is declining. So where are they going instead?
The Swiss appetite for travel remains strong, with both short breaks and long-haul trips on the rise. On average, Swiss residents are planning more than two trips abroad per person in 2026, according to a report published late last year.
Swiss travellers are increasingly drawn to distant destinations, says Andrea Beffa, CEO of the Swiss Travel Association, in an interview with SRF. Asia is particularly popular, with Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan topping the trend lists. Mediterranean destinations are also making a comeback, with Greece high on the list.
For European trips of under six hours, trains are gaining ground as a preferred mode of transport.
Beffa notes that Swiss travellers tend to favour independent travel and close contact with local culture. She does not expect significant price rises but advises booking early “to secure a good deal”.
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