The mainstay of San Francisco's economy, tourism, is showing remarkable betterment according to new annual statistics released by the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau.
San Francisco scored an increase in both visitors and revenue compared to the previous year. More than 15.7 million visitors came to San Francisco in 2005, an addition of 620,000 tourists. And the visitors spent $7.37 billion, which is an increase of 9.5 percent, according to the reports.
"As the city's largest industry, (tourism) creates jobs and raises revenue for programs that benefit all of the city's residents," said Mayor Gavin Newsom in a statement. "Tourism allows us to share the natural beauty and cultural diversity of San Francisco with the rest of the world."
Taxes and fees generated from tourism accumulated $418 million for San Francisco, according to the Visitors Bureau. About 66,315 jobs are directly supported by the industry. The City's hotel tax, for example, generated $108 million for San Francisco's operating budget for the last fiscal year. This fiscal year's hotel tax is projected to support the city's budget with up to $125 million.
Speaking at a City Hall news conference with Mayor Newsom, John Marks, President and CEO of the Visitors Bureau, said that the hotel occupancy rate is expected to increase to 78 percent in 2006. This, according to Marks, is an indicator of an improved economy.
But according to the annual reports, San Francisco has not yet recovered from the 2000 recession, the dot-com bust, and the Sept. 11 attacks that caused the hotel occupancy rates to rapidly decline to 64 percent in 2002. "The only thing that passed us by is locusts and darkness," joked Marks.
San Francisco Attracts Domestic and International Visitors
The Department of Commerce has recently reported that San Francisco is the third most visited city in United States by foreign tourists after New York and Los Angeles. Last year, San Francisco counted more overseas visitors than Miami and Orlando. The majority of international travelers come from Great Britain, followed by Japan, France and Australia.
Conde Nast's Traveler's Guide has ranked San Francisco second place above Florence, Italy, right behind Sydney, Australia, which currently takes the number one spot as a tourist destination.
"We're going to take Sydney out, in a competitive and appropriately spirited way, next year, we hope," Mayor Newsom said at the news conference.
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