San Francisco, Here Is Why You Should Visit, Again

Visiting San Francisco is always on most people’s wish list.

Especially those who love to travel. Please admit it.

Even if they don’t know it. Yet. It is a subliminal thing. You just have to come. There is so much to do and so much to see.

Trust us. You don’t even have to have a destination in mind. We grew up there.

Bring a sweater or coat. The weather can change on a dime.

Or Bit Coin.

Sometimes for us, though we lived there, there was so much to see and do, we felt like tourists in our own hometown.

Now, living slightly out of the area, we often travel there to eat and stay in 5 Star hotels just for the fun of it. Whatever city or small town you are from, after spending hours in San Francisco, you will truly feel like you’ve gotten away. It’s like your other life was a long time ago.

It can be a serene feeling.

We also like to people watch. Pick your restaurant or neighborhood, hopefully with an outside café sitting area, dine, and people watch.

We do it all of the time.

Even the suburbs have something grand to offer. Daly City is right by the Pacific Ocean and it is nicely framed and canvassed by mountains. For us it was an incredible place to grow up. To this day we go down into the valley region of Westlake, pick an eatery and just sit around and people watch. The air is fresh and the residents are intriguing.

Others in influential places feel the same way.

At the enjoyable site Travel San Francisco, their team shares, “For the 10th year in a row, the San Francisco Travel Association is forecasting record levels of visitor volume and spending for 2019.

San Francisco’s destination marketing organization is projecting a total of 26.2 million visitors to the city for 2019, up 1.5 percent over 25.8 million in 2018.?Total spending by visitors is projected to reach $9.56 billion. This is up 2.6 percent over $9.3 billion in 2018.”

This is significant. As San Francisco loses residents because of the $1.4 million median price tag on homes, where many residents are moving to less expensive areas like Sacramento about 90 miles up the road, it doesn’t change the thinking that San Francisco is a must see destination, even just for a visit.

The numbers above speak for themselves.

More good news emanates from sftravel.com, “On the convention side, San Francisco Travel has set a new record for the Moscone Center. The year 2019 will be the first to have 1.2 million definite room nights booked. The previous record was 1.0 million room nights booked for 2014.

In another first, San Francisco Travel is also forecasting visitor volume and spending for the entire region, including the Peninsula (San Francisco International Airport, San Mateo, Redwood City), the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward), Marin and coastal San Mateo County and wine country (Napa and Sonoma Counties).

Visitor volume for the region is projected to reach 57.7 million for 2019, with a total of $19.7 billion combined visitor spending. San Francisco Travel will continue to report this data going forward.

International Visitation and Spending

San Francisco Travel reports that the city will welcome 3 million international visitors in 2019, an increase of 2.0 percent over 2018. They are projected to spend $5.1 billion, up 2.8 percent from $4.9 billion in 2018.

International visitors should comprise 29 percent of visitors and 62 percent of all overnight visitor spending in 2019.

Some of the strongest visitor growth will be in the Asia/Pacific markets of India and South Korea. The top five international markets for visitor volume are Mexico, China, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. The top five international markets for visitor spending are China, United Kingdom, India, Australia and South Korea.

“Despite some headwinds, China remains San Francisco’s most important overseas visitor market in spending and volume. San Francisco Travel continues to invest in new direct-to-consumer marketing programs to maximize the long-term potential of the market,” said Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of San Francisco Travel.

Overnight visitor volume and spending from domestic markets also grew, though more slowly at 2 percent.

San Francisco Travel has 13 international representation offices: The United Kingdom/Ireland, Germany, France, Italy/Spain, Scandinavia, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Beijing, Shanghai, South Korea, India and Australia.

The San Francisco Travel Association is a private, not-for-profit organization that markets the city as a leisure, convention and business travel destination. With more than 1,300 partner businesses, San Francisco Travel is one of the largest partnership-based tourism promotion agencies in the country.

For information on reservations, activities and more, visit www.sftravel.com or call 415-391-2000.”

Very good idea. You should give their site a visit before you travel here.

We know you love good news and we have more of it. Nice to know that it comes from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. They seem to be very good at what they do.

Okay, closer look. What is it that they do?

At sfchamber.com they educate, “The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is San Francisco’s most vibrant business network. A global economic force, San Francisco is the most inclusive and passionate city for innovation and entrepreneurship, and we work hard on its behalf.”

Given the previous statistics cited by San Francisco Travel, their hard work is absolutely paying off. They continue to attract, support, and grow business through advocacy, economic development, and business development.

Great success is rarely achieved alone. The Chamber has some fantastic partners.

Chamber partners include businesses of every size, industry and neighborhoods across the City and region, as well as other business organizations, community benefit districts, and industry associations.

They and their partners represent the nearly 800,000 employees of San Francisco businesses and their innovative work.

Now from the vantage point of one of the greatest travel teams in the world, Lonely Planet. They smile, “Consider permission permanently granted to be outlandish: other towns may surprise you, but in San Francisco you will surprise yourself.

Every available Bay Area–invented technology is needed to make dinner decisions in this city, with the most restaurants and farmers markets per capita in North America – all supplied by pioneering local organic farms. A difference of a few degrees between neighborhoods grants permission for salted-caramel ice cream in Dolores Park, or a hasty retreat to tropical heat inside the California Academy of Sciences' rainforest dome.

San Francisco is a 7-by-7-mile peninsula that looks like California's thumb, pointed optimistically upwards.”

It is almost impossible not to feel optimistic about life in general and your life in particular after spending time in San Francisco.

The world is filled with magnificent cities but few match the weather, geography, architectural design, powerful skyscrapers and incredible forward thinking and innovative entrepreneurs of San Francisco.

Often in life when we find a gem, we want to keep it to ourselves.

Turn it into a best kept secret.

Not with San Francisco.