How sex workers find lucrative opportunities at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Many sex workers reportedly travel to Davos specifically for the annual World Economic Forum, seeing it as a prime opportunity to make money.
January 18, 2023 / 12:19 PM IST
The five-day annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is held in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos is known for attracting some of the most powerful and influential people in the world but the five-day summit is a lucrative opportunity for a different profession - sex workers.
According to reports, the demand for sexual services increases significantly during the annual WEF summit, as business leaders, politicians, and other elites gather in the Swiss ski resort town. Many sex workers travel to Davos specifically for the event, seeing it as a prime opportunity to make money.
In 2020, an investigation by The Times found at least 100 sex workers travel to Davos for the summit according to a Swiss police officer.
The escorts are booked and check-in to the same hotel as the delegates while DailyMail quoted one sex worker as saying that many make bookings to party at their suites with their employees.
Salome Balthus, a sex worker and writer, said one of her American clients who regularly visits Switzerland and her multiple times a year is among the 2,700 conference attendees this year. She also posted on Twitter: “Date in Switzerland during #WWF means looking at the gun muzzles of security guards in the hotel corridor at 2 a.m. - and then sharing the giveaway chocolates from the restaurant with them and gossiping about the rich... #Davos #WEF.”
One worker, who dresses in business attire to blend in, charges around $760) for an hour and $2,500 for the whole night, plus travel expenses, Dailymail reported.
The manager of one escort service also said that she has already received 11 bookings and 25 inquiries - and expects many more this week.
Prostitution is legal in Switzerland.