Global Tourism Forum Unveils “Power of 40” – The Most Exclusive Tourism Gathering Ever Held During Davos Week

Zurich (TRI) – The Global Tourism Forum (GTF), the Swiss-based think-and-do tank that has quietly become one of the most influential voices in high-level tourism diplomacy, today announced the launch of “Power of 40” – an ultra-exclusive, invitation-only summit that will take place 20–22 January 2026 in Davos-Klosters, deliberately overlapping with the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026.

For the first time in the history of global tourism gatherings, only forty individuals will be seated at the table.

Who are the “40”?

According to the official selection criteria released this morning, the forty participants will consist of:

• 15 serving Ministers of Tourism or equivalent (heads of national tourism boards with ministerial rank)
• 10 C-suite executives from the world’s most strategic tourism and aviation conglomerates (chairmen and CEOs only)
• 8 billionaire private investors and family offices who are actively deploying nine-figure sums into tourism and hospitality assets
• 5 globally recognized thought leaders and academics shaping the intellectual future of the industry
• 2 surprise “disruptor” seats reserved for under-35 founders who have already achieved unicorn or near-unicorn status in travel-tech

Zero alternates. Zero plus-ones. Zero media inside the room.

The Venue: Total Secrecy, Alpine Perfection

The exact venue remains a closely guarded secret – participants will receive final coordinates only 48 hours prior to arrival. Sources confirm GTF has taken over a private alpine residence high above Davos-Klosters for the duration of the event, complete with dedicated security detail and full exclusive use of the property.

The Agenda: No Panels, No PowerPoints, Only Decisions

In a radical departure from traditional forums, “Power of 40” will run under a modified Chatham House Rule on steroids – not only are participants not identified when remarks are quoted, but the very existence of specific commitments may remain confidential if all forty agree.

The working sessions (limited to 45 minutes each, followed by ski or snowmobile breaks) are built around five make-or-break questions for the industry in the 2030–2040 horizon:

1. How to create a binding global framework for tourism carbon budgets without killing growth in emerging destinations
2. Whether the industry should jointly finance a $25 billion “Tourism Resilience & Destination Insurance Fund” governed independently of the UN system
3. The ethics, regulation, and revenue-sharing model for facial-recognition and behavioral data in travel (a “Global Traveler Identity” proposal)
4. A unified response to geo-political risk: creating a “neutral flag” fleet of cruise and private-aviation assets in case of major conflict
5. The succession crisis: how to attract the next generation of political and investor talent to an industry still seen as “nice to have”

Each session must end with a signed one-page term sheet. If consensus cannot be reached, the question is tabled forever.

The Price of Admission

There is no fee to attend, but every participant must make an irrevocable pledge – financial, political, or intellectual – before receiving the final invitation. Sources close to the selection committee tell Tourism Reporter that pledges already confirmed exceed $1.4 billion in future investment commitments and regulatory reforms.

Early Reactions

• An Asian tourism minister (speaking anonymously): “For once, we’re not begging for a seat at someone else’s table – we are the table.”
• A European hotel dynasty heir: “I turned down Davos proper three years in a row. This is the first time I’m clearing my calendar without hesitation.”
• A Silicon Valley travel-tech unicorn founder who has already secured one of the disruptor seats: “Forty people in a room who can actually move $200 billion and change visa policy in 70 countries? That’s the real AI – Accelerated Influence.”

Why Now?

GTF President Elena Casanova explained the timing in a brief statement issued this morning:

“2026 will mark the moment when global tourism definitively outgrows the ‘ministry of happiness’ stereotype and becomes a central pillar of geostrategic stability. The world’s most powerful annual gathering already happens in Davos. It was time tourism stopped knocking on the door and simply built its own room – smaller, higher, and far more consequential.”

Applications are not accepted. The selection committee, chaired by Casanova and including two former heads of state and the secretary-general of UNWTO as an observer, will finalize the list by 20 December 2025.

For everyone else, the closest you will get is the public 30-minute closing declaration that the Power of 40 will deliver together on the Promenade at 08:00 on 23 January 2026 – immediately before the WEF officially opens.

One thing is certain: after that morning in Davos, global tourism will never be quite the same again.

Tourism Reporter will continue to monitor developments as the final list takes shape.