San Francisco Travel Association is planning to focus on increasing the length of the stay of Indian visitors in San Francisco. For this, it aims to target the newer group of travellers. “We look at the spending pattern of the travellers because we want to be environmentally sustainable destination. Our strategy is to have fewer travellers staying for longer duration. It is a sustainable form of tourism,” said Joe D’ Alessandro, President and CEO, San Francisco Travel Association.
Average length of the stay for an Indian visitor in California is about 14 days. According to an estimate, on an average an Indian stays in San Francisco for a week, he added.
In his presentation Joe D’ Alessandro said, around 2.06 lakh Indians travelled the destination in 2018 the number which is likely to reach 2.16 lakh travellers in 2019– an increase of 5 per cent. In 2020, it is anticipating that the number would go up to 2.30 lakh.
“India is the seventh largest market for us in terms of total travellers. On the other hand, in terms of spending, it is the third largest market and in the coming two-three years it will become the second largest market after China,” he said.
Top markets for San Francisco are China, UK, Germany while in terms of expenditure China is ranked number 1 followed by UK and India.
San Francisco Travel is the city’s official destination marketing organisation which promotes the destination for conventions, meetings, events and leisure travel.
Looking at the total Tourism prespective, San Francisco Travel is reporting a total of 25.8 million visitors to the city in 2018, up 1.2 percent over 25.5 million in 2017.
Total spending by visitors was $10 billion, up 2.3 percent over $9.8 billion in 2017 (including spending on meetings and conventions).
“This is the ninth consecutive year that San Fransisco has reported record-breaking outcomes for San Francisco’s tourism industry. The 25.8 million visitors and $10 billion in spending created 82,538 jobs and supported services for people throughout the city and the entire Bay Area,” he said.
“San Francisco is an incredible city that continues to draw people from all over to visit and enjoy the City we all know and love. These visitors explore our neighborhoods, shop at our small businesses, enjoy our restaurants, and help support our local economy.”
“While visitor growth last year was modest, we saw a larger increase in visitor spending. We are optimistic for the rest of 2019 and currently have more room nights on the books than ever before, thanks to the recently expanded Moscone Center,” D’Alessandro said. “In the year ahead, we are looking forward to continued growth in convention bookings.”
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) also had a record breaking year in 2018. SFO served a total of 57.8 million passengers. Passenger enplanements increased by 3.1 percent overall, with a 2.2 percent growth in the domestic sector and a 6 percent increase in the international sector.
Hotel Occupancy
Average hotel occupancy was 82.2 percent for 2018, down 1.4 percent, while average daily rates were $264.53, up by 6.2 percent. The loss in occupancy is attributed to the closure of the Moscone Center during construction of the $551 expansion that was completed in January 2019. Average hotel occupancy is projected to rise 1.2 percent for 2019 to 83.2 percent while average daily rates are expected to average $276.66 for 2019, and increase of 4.6 percent.
International Visitor Volume
“Our focus on having a global footprint with representation in 13 international markets, integrated sales efforts and digital marketing programs in key places like China makes San Francisco and the region stronger and able to weather influences beyond our control,” D’Alessandro said. “Working closely with our regional partners is a big part of this effort.”
International visitors again comprised 28 percent of overnight visitors and 61 percent of all overnight visitor spending in 2018. San Francisco welcomed 2.9 million international visitors in 2018, very similar to the number in 2017.
The top five markets for visitor volume in 2018 were Mexico, China, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. The fastest growing international markets were Brazil, France, India and Taiwan.
For 2019, international visitor volume is expected to grow by 3 percent with growth expected from China, South Korea, Brazil, India and Canada.
International Visitor Spending
International visitors spent $4.9 billion in 2018, up 2 percent from $4.8 billion in 2017. International markets with the most growth in spending were China (up 4.8 percent), India (8.0 percent), France (9.7 percent), Brazil (8.5 percent) and Australia (4.8 percent)
According to D’Alessandro, international tourism levels were affected by a variety of factors:
• A stronger U.S. dollar, increasing the cost of visiting the United States
• Negative perceptions of the U.S. caused by uncertain travel-related policies and messaging of the administration
• International trade wars
• Completion of the Moscone Center expansion
• Tightening credit
For 2019, San Francisco Travel is forecasting a total of 26.5 million visitors to the city, an increase of 2.5 percent. Total spending by visitors in 2019 is projected to reach $10.3 billion, up 3.4 percent, including spending related to meetings and conventions.
Far Reaching Economic Impact
According to the Visitor Study, visitor spending equated to $25.5 million daily or $1.06 million per hour. The average visitor spent $360.17 per day. Convention attendees spent an average of $567.25 per day.
The number of jobs supported by tourism in San Francisco rose 1 percent to 82,538 jobs in 2018.
There was an average of 70,829 visitors in San Francisco each day.
The tourism industry generated $771 million in taxes and fees for the City of San Francisco in 2018, an increase of 8.0 percent over the previous year. Major contributors to that figure include hotel tax (51 percent) and property tax (22 percent).
On a per capita basis, visitors spent $10,534 per San Francisco resident. Visitors generated $2,089 in taxes per San Francisco household.
