San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau and Industry Partners Tracking Uptick in Visitor Numbers

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. October 14, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 21, 2005. When the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (SFCVB) released 2004 visitor statistics in mid-March visitor volume and spending were on the rise. Recent data reported for the first five months of 2005 confirms that this upward trend is gaining traction.

"Three major benchmarks of a healthy hospitality industry  hotel occupancy, average daily room rate and airport arrivals  continue to give us reasons to be optimistic, " John Marks, president and CEO of the SFCVB, noted in remarks today during a marketing briefing to some 200 members of the SFCVB.

Occupancy in San Francisco hotels was up 3.3 percent for an average of 71.4 percent for January-May and the average daily room rate (ADR) at $149.10 was up 3.6 percent according to PKF Consulting, a worldwide hotel analysis firm.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is also witnessing a "steady upward trend in passenger travel," according to Airport Director John Martin. The expected increase bodes well for San Francisco; more than 80 percent of San Francisco's hotel guests arrive by air. New seasonal service from Independence Air, Icelandair, Air New Zealand and the debut of Song on July 4 kick-started the summer travel season. According to SFO an estimated 592,000 passengers traveled through SFO July 1 through 5, an 8.7 percent increase over the same period in 2004.

Port of San Francisco officials note that cruise ship business is also posting dramatic increases. Since 2001 there has been a 120 percent increase in the number of cruise ships docking here and a 213 percent increase in the number of passengers.

Marks also reported the following SFCVB achievements for the 2004-2005 fiscal year which ended June 30, 2005:

. Consumer winter advertising program generated more than 65 million impressions and Web site traffic was up 48 percent.

. More than 418,900 individual visitors received assistance with their travel plans; 387,400 of them on-site at the Bureau's Visitor Information Center located at Powell and Market Streets on the lower level of Hallidie Plaza.

. More than 925 convention groups representing a total of 2,229,995 room nights over the next 23 years. Another 1,837 groups representing 5,410,079 room nights were booked on a tentative basis through 2028.

. More than 575 leads for services for tour groups were sent to members and 1,200 travel trade professionals were hosted on familiarization visits.

. More than 1,500 journalists were assisted with their coverage of San Francisco and its visitor industry.

The number of visitors to San Francisco in 2004 was 15.12 million, up 5.9 percent from 2003. Visitors spent $6.73 billion dollars, an increase of 6.8 percent over the previous year. Tourism is San Francisco's largest revenue-generating industry.

Approximately 4 million people stayed in San Francisco hotels in 2004. Hotel guests account for 69 percent of dollars spent locally by out-of-town visitors, though only 35 percent of San Francisco visitors actually stay in hotels. Visitors also stay with friends and relatives, stay outside the City limits or come into the City only for the day.