The San Francisco Travel Association, the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of San Francisco, released 2022 tourism figures and an updated 2023 tourism forecast at its annual Marketing Conference held at The Warfield.
San Francisco Travel reported a significant increase in visitors in 2022, and total tourism spending, including exhibitor and meeting planner direct spend, was $7.7 billion.
“The incredible growth in 2022 was fueled largely by international leisure travelers and our convention business, with the 33 events booked at Moscone Center driving $587 million in convention and meetings spending,” says Joe D’Alessandro, San Francisco Travel’s president and CEO. “We made significant headway in 2022 through targeted efforts to attract overseas travelers and secure events for Moscone Center.”
San Francisco had a record 26.2 million visitors and $9.6 billion in visitor spending in 2019. Visitor spending is expected to reach 2019’s level in 2024 and visitor volume is anticipated to exceed 2019’s in 2025. San Francisco’s tourism industry is forecasted to fully recover Lodging RevPAR (revenue per available room) by 2026.
