Meeting space, offices and marketing opportunities in Davos: what is allowed after 15 August

Only if it already has an approved building permit that covers your use and names your company. The municipality of Davos (Gemeinde Davos) closed applications for temporary WEF structures and venue conversions on 15 August 2026 and capped the total at 125 projects. A shop, restaurant, bar or gallery that was not in an application cannot be turned into a temporary venue now, and we advise against taking one without seeing the approved permit.

Meetings and work inside a hotel, a private chalet or apartment, or an office used as an office need no building permit as we read the rules. Screens and branding have to be out of sight from the street, private dinners and catering inside need the owner's written OK for caterers and AV staff, and the guests are your own staff and invited people. An open public event is a different matter.

Yes, as long as nothing can be seen from the street. The old exemption for branding set back 1.5 metres from a shop window is gone for WEF 2027: a logo, screen or branding with an external visual effect needs a permit, also when it stands inside the window. Face screens inward and put blinds or film on every window that looks onto the street.

No. Each company is limited to one project in total across Davos, and being present in a shared permitted space counts as that project. A company that receives a room and branding in a permitted venue has to be named in the original application. Adding sponsors or subletting space after the permit is filed is a violation.

It can be fined. In 2026 the municipality issued 36 fines for temporary WEF structures, among them for building without a permit and for breaking fire-safety rules. Fined projects receive penalty points that count against them in the next year's application.

It needs a building permit. A restaurant or bar that closes to the public to serve as your private venue is a change of use, and so is turning a storefront, a gallery or an apartment into a temporary venue or hub.

In a hotel meeting room or business suite, a private chalet or large apartment, or an existing office used as an office. We check who owns the space, what the owner permits, how many people it holds and whether the intended use is allowed, before we recommend it.

Seven things: the land register extract (Grundbuchauszug), the owner's written consent for corporate use, the owner's signed Merkblatt declaration on fire safety, capacity and structure, written confirmation that the space is approved for your use, written vendor access for caterers and AV technicians, the building permit (Baubewilligung) if the space was converted before 15 August, and proof of hospitality use for hotel suites and conference rooms.

Use a short-term lease for WEF week, in writing. A standard holiday rental will not do. It should allow commercial hospitality use for private corporate meetings and invited guests, give your caterers, AV technicians and security staff access, and have the owner confirm fire and capacity compliance and cover you against municipal occupancy disputes. Hold the security deposit in a Swiss escrow or trust account.

In a hotel, chalet, apartment or office where the owner agrees, yes: one team in the morning and another in the afternoon, or two rooms in one property. In a space that holds a building permit, sharing has to be declared in the application from the start. We tell you which case you are in before you commit.

Not outside the security perimeter. The Cantonal Police redraw the perimeter every year, and inside it access is controlled. In 2026 it covered Talstrasse 40 to 55, Promenade 85 to 115 and Promenade 155 to 165. We check the current layout against the address, and caterers and AV teams need the owner's written access in any case.

We measure it on the street. The Congress Centre is at Talstrasse 49a, Talstrasse 40 is 221 metres from it, and along the Promenade the house number decides the walk, at roughly 19 metres a number. In snow, with equipment or in a crowd, a five-minute walk takes longer.

As early as you can. Central options in Davos fill six to nine months ahead, so for January 2027 what remains is limited and changes by the day. Send the requirements now, even a partial brief.

Public ad space (posters and digital screens), branded goods for your guests, sponsoring a side event, hosting your own dinner or reception, speaking slots and a featured placement on Davos Access. Branding that can be seen from the street on a private shopfront or window needs a building permit, so we suggest the mix against who you want to reach and when.

Yes, through public ad space. Branding on a private shopfront or window needs a building permit, while public ad placements are booked separately from any venue. We have 11 placements in central Davos Platz for WEF week: eight poster boards (one of them backlit) and three digital screens, on the Promenade, Talstrasse, at Rätia Center and at Coop.

Every placement covers WEF week, 18 to 24 January 2027. Two posters start earlier, on 11 January, and one runs until 31 January. Creative is due on 30 November 2026 and printed posters on 14 December 2026.

The price is on request for each placement and printing is extra. Two brands can share one placement and split the cost.

Yes, in the right place. Giving items to your own guests inside a hotel, chalet or office is ordinary hospitality. Handing them out on public ground can need approval from the municipality during WEF week, and a branded stand or shopfront falls under the venue rules above. We check where and how you plan to hand them out before you print.

Warm things that people use outdoors: hats, gloves, scarves, hand warmers and boot spikes. Tell us the number, the date they are needed in Davos and where they will be handed out, and we plan the delivery back from your first event.

Yes. The best places are agreed a year or more ahead, and the 2027 permit window closed five months before the meeting. If the same pattern holds for 2028, spaces that need a permit are decided in the summer of 2027. Tell us now what you will need and you are first in line when owners confirm next year's lets.

We expect so. The municipality introduced the cap of 125 projects for 2027 for the first time and local reporting expects further tightening in the coming years. We update this page as owners, venues and the municipality publish more.

Yes. Most tech networking happens in the side programme, not inside the Congress Centre. In 2026 we mapped 112 AI and compute side events among 497, along the Promenade and in hotels, and most of them needed a registration or an invitation rather than a WEF badge.

Use a multi-room hotel suite, a hotel meeting room or a private apartment, with the owner's written consent for corporate use. Product demos and screen presentations inside are fine as long as nothing branded can be seen from the street. A storefront demo space needs a building permit, and the application deadline was 15 August 2026.

Mostly along the Promenade between Davos Platz and Davos Dorf, where the Houses are, with more in hotels and up at the Schatzalp. A meeting base within walking distance of the Promenade saves your team the transfers between panels. We measure the real walk to each address.

Not as a new project. Converting a shopfront needed a permit applied for by 15 August 2026, and each company can have one project in total.

In a private chalet or apartment with its own door, or in a hotel boardroom or suite. Hotel lobbies and Promenade venues are crowded and hard to keep private. A chalet gives you control over who comes in, and the owner agrees to that in the contract.

No. A WEF badge is for the Congress Centre. Side events, private dinners and receptions run on their own registration, applications or invitations, and many work by guest list and introduction. We make introductions only when both sides agree, and we never name who stayed where.

Davos if the principal moves between back-to-back meetings and cannot lose time in transit. Klosters if space and privacy matter more: it has larger chalets and more quiet, with about 25 minutes by train to Davos, and a road transfer that can take much longer in snow or behind a motorcade.

Yes, for your own guests, with the owner's written consent for corporate use and written access for caterers and AV staff. A restaurant or bar that closes to the public to become your private venue is a different case and needs a building permit.

No. A street-level booth is a temporary structure and a shopfront turned into a studio is a venue conversion. Both need a building permit, and the deadline for applications was 15 August 2026. As reported, a narrow list of large media organisations with WEF membership can keep building as before. Independent podcasters and creators are not on it.

An enclosed room: a hotel boardroom or suite, or the living room of a private chalet or apartment. Acoustic panels, lights and several cameras can go inside with the owner's written OK, and the production stays inside the property with nothing branded visible from the street. Ask about power, Wi-Fi, noise from neighbours and ceiling height before you commit.

Choose a location outside the security perimeter and within walking distance of the Promenade. Inside the perimeter, access is controlled and an unbadged crew with equipment needs arrangements in advance. The police redraw the perimeter every year (in 2026 it covered Talstrasse 40 to 55 and Promenade 85 to 115 and 155 to 165), so we check the current line against the address.

Inside the Congress Centre, yes: media accreditation is issued by the World Economic Forum and nobody can sell it. Outside it, you need the agreement of whoever hosts each space or event. Davos Access is independent of the Forum and does not arrange accreditation.

A base in a hotel, chalet or apartments for the team, separate rooms for simultaneous bilaterals, an office used as an office, indoor private dinners and receptions in a hotel or chalet, public ad space, and booking for 2028. What is no longer possible for 2027 is a new branded House: turning a shopfront, restaurant or gallery into a venue needed a permit applied for by 15 August.

Only through a venue that already holds an approved permit naming you. Each organisation is limited to one project in total, and sponsors and partners have to be named in the original application. If you are not named, plan for 2028.

Ask for separate rooms with their own doors, in one hotel or one chalet, and ask us to check that two rooms are really two rooms. For each space we confirm the layout, the capacity, how guests and caterers get in and the walk to the Congress Centre before we recommend it.

Yes. Tell us who decides, by when and what your procurement needs: quotes, written terms, invoicing. Each space comes with its own written quote and terms. Starting early helps, because central options fill six to nine months ahead.

No. This page sets out how we read the rules in October 2026 and what we check before we recommend a space. Confirm with the Gemeinde Davos or your own counsel before you sign.

No. Accreditation is issued by the World Economic Forum and nobody can sell it. Davos Access is independent of the Forum, and we help with everything around it.