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Aerial Photo of Davos, the Alpine Host City of the World Economic Forum, captured before the Annual Meeting 2011 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2011. Davos is in the middle of Swiss Alps and the city for holidays, sports, congresses, health, development and culture. (photo ©2011 World Economic Forum/swiss-image.ch/Photo by Andy Mettler)

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - All eyes switch to Davos, as the offices of the host, the World Economic Forum in Geneva, empty out for the annual meeting of business and political leaders at the Swiss resort in canton Graubuenden.

Newspapers and magazines are filled with Davos “news” which so far consists mainly of journalists’ descriptions of the pretty road or train ride from Zurich airport to the hills of Davos, where it has been snowing.

Some essential and non-essential Swiss facts about Davos:

• The theme for 2011 is “Shared Norms for the New Reality”. This officially covers four topics: Responding to the New Reality; The Economic Outlook and Defining Policies for Inclusive Growth; Supporting the G20 Agenda; Building a Risk Response Network. Unofficially, it is  likely to include anything and everything on people’s minds, from wiki leaks to unemployment and elections and revolutions in Africa.

• Swiss military forces are spending CHF1.5 million and putting 4,000 soldiers on the ground and in the air to protect and help the 2,500 guests at the forum. They’re using 18 km of protective barriers and 1,000 kg of sand to ensure helicopter landing pads and trains no matter what the weather. Media people make up 420 of the foreign visitors, with 80 Swiss journalists.

• Bilateral agreements are likely to be on the agenda at meetings between the Swiss minister for the economy, Johann Schneider-Ammann, and German Minister of Economics and Technology Rainer Brüderle, Austrian Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Josef Pröll, and French Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Christine Lagarde.

• Those talks might make more headlines in Europe but of greater interest to Swiss business people is the meeting between Schneider-Ammann and Chinese Trade Minister Chen Deming 28 January, which will launch the negotiations on a free trade agreement between Switzerland and China.

The cost? Starting point is a little over CHF50,000 for membership in the forum, a must if you want to be invited to the Davos party, but the real cost is staggeringly higher for most people attending, according to the New York Times, which ends by noting that this is likely to change, as the appeal of Davos begins to fade (Ed. note: I was told the thing 15 years ago by tow people who attended, but the appeal of Davos appears to have held).

Alpine horns greet guests at the new convention centre in Davos (photo ©2011 World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by Michael Wuertenberg)

Here is what some international media in English were saying about the mega-meeting in the run-up, before a suicide bomber in Russia and street demonstrations in Egypt made last-minute deadlines: Economist, The Globe & Mail, Guardian, New York Times, Telegraph, Economic Times of India