The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting is the event that turns a quiet alpine town into the centre of the global conversation for one week each year. If you're planning to be there for 2027, here's how the week is structured.
When is it?
The Annual Meeting is traditionally held in mid-to-late January. The Forum confirms the exact dates closer to the event, so treat any specific window as provisional until officially announced — but the timing is consistent enough that you can plan around the third week of January with confidence. The practical takeaway: the dates move slightly year to year, but the demand for accommodation is locked in regardless, and the best properties go long before the programme is published.
The venue
The official programme is centred on the Congress Centre (Kongresszentrum Davos) in Davos Platz. This is where the main sessions, plenaries, and a large share of the formal meetings take place, and access is tightly controlled by badge. Its location is the reason Davos Platz is the most sought-after place to stay — being able to walk to and from the Congress Centre, rather than depending on transfers through controlled zones, is worth a great deal during the week.
Who attends
The Annual Meeting brings together heads of state and government, chief executives, investors, leaders from civil society, academia, media, and culture — a deliberately cross-sector mix. Attendance at the official programme is by invitation and badge, but the town fills with a much wider population drawn by the gathering, which is what gives the week its particular density.
How the week works
In practice, the Annual Meeting operates on two levels. There is the official programme inside the Congress Centre — sessions, panels, and formal bilateral meetings. And there is everything around it: the side events, hosted breakfasts and dinners, pavilions, and private meetings that fill the Promenade and the hotels (covered in our side events guide). For many attendees, the second is where the real work of the week happens.
What to sort first
The order of operations matters. Accommodation is the binding constraint — it sells out earliest and governs everything else, from how easily you reach the Congress Centre to where you can host. Secure that first, then build transfers, dining, and meetings around it.
Browse verified 2027 accommodation, read what to expect, or talk to our team to plan the week end to end.