San Francisco rakes in billions in traveler dollars
Never mind your heart. Apparently, travelers, you left the contents of your wallet in San Francisco last year. Possibly your 401(K), also.
That city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau reports that tourists spent $8.2 billion there in 2007, an increase of 6.2% over the year before and an all-time high.
Which is not surprising, really. On my last trip there, to the best of my recollection, I dropped about $3.7 billion on a hotel near Union Square (three nights, tipping the maid $1 for each), $2.1 billion on restaurants ($800 million Italian, $700 million Chinese, $600 million Mexican), and $1 billion for cable-car rides and the BART fare to and from the station by the Oakland airport.
Panhandlers asked me for $780 million, but I gave only about $400 million. I accidentally dropped $200 million into a gutter on Polk Street and was too creeped-out to pick it up. I tossed $80 million into the guitar case of that busker down by Ghirardelli Square.
Then there were those new editions of “Howl” and “On the Road” from City Lights bookstore: Was it $17 million for the pair? Alas, no Irish coffee at the Buena Vista or seafood from Fisherman’s Wharf. Too expensive.
Anyway, by the SFCVB’s figures, some 16.1 million of us passed through town, up 2.4% from 2006. And by the reckoning of hotel industry analysts PKF Consulting, the average San Francisco hotel room fetched $181.22 last year, up 8% from the year before.
Postscript: OK, maybe I was exaggerating a little.
The Buena Vista at 2765 Hyde St. (which dubs itself the American birthplace of the Irish coffee in 1952), says it charges $7.25 for them.
City Lights, at 261 Columbus Ave., has a paperback “Howl” for $6.95, a paperback “On the Road” for $10.95.
Alioto’s, one of the oldest restaurants at Fisherman’s Wharf, charges $11.45 for a shrimp cocktail.
Also, what with the real-estate market so soft these days, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that you can get a seven-bedroom home near the Presidio for only $48 million.
— Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
[Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times]
8 Comments on “San Francisco rakes in billions in traveler dollars”
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June 1st, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Once, long ago, our FAVORITE town; today, the SF V and C Bureau could NOT pay us to visit. Overpriced, noisy, touristic trappings all too common, NO parking, just GRIEF…same as Victoria B.C….just NOT worth it!!
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:53 am
The San Francisco Parking Authority is a criminal enterprise sanctioned by the city of San Francisco. They tow your vehicle for trumped up infractions and charge you upwards of $400 RANSOM to get it out of hock. They know how hard it is to fight a fine like this if you don’t live in SF and they know you’ll just take it in the shorts rather than come back to fight it. I’d suggest that there are much better and kinder cities to visit. Try Big Sur. No parking meters. No streets that smell like urine. Nice people. Fresh air.
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:05 am
My wife and i stayed there for 5 days and found it reasonable-but we are from the uk where gas costs $10 a gallon!, panhandlers were a big problem…thought we had it bad in Edinburgh but your guys could win the panhandlers olympics.
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:55 am
I lived in the Bay Area for nearly 20 years, (graduated from Northgate High in WC). After being gone for nearly 20 years, I returned as a tourist with my wife and 4 children two weeks ago. San Francisco was as beautiful as ever! My children had a blast–the cable cars rivaled the tea cups at Disneyland. Chinatown, the Wharf, Union Square, GG Bridge and Park, the Haight, Alamo Square–we did it all in 24 hours. We arrived in the City at 2 p.m. on Sunday, and wondered why we saw Elvis, Cat Woman, and two brides dressed in tennis shoes. It wasn’t until I saw someone with a runner’s number that I reflected back on my running the Bay to Breakers in the mid 80’s. Otherwise known as the world’s largest moving party!! We love ya San Francisco. We miss you and Herb Caen too! Herb’s favorite triple pun–Car Strangled Spanner–aka the Bay Bridge.
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 am
First of all, you should do your research to discover what you want to see and what destinations you want to avoid (e.g. tourist traps). Really, the only tourist centric places are located in or near Fisherman’s Wharf. You should have read that in your guide book. Second, with regard to transportation, you can easily get around without a car by using public transportation, walking, or taking a cab. Since San Francisco is the densest US city outside of NYC, parking is an obvious challenge. But, as long as you can read English, you can read a parking sign that states when you may or may not park there. No one likes getting a ticket, so get some quarters a put them in the meter. Third, Big Sur is not a kinder and better city. It’s not even a city, it’s a nature preserve. That’s like comparing Downtown LA to Yosemite. Fourth, while indeed the homeless are an annoyance, don’t give them any money, for that only encourages them to stay and ask for more. Maybe then they will return to the cities from whence they came.
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:55 am
It’s all relative, that’s for sure. I’m booking a New York trip now, and suddenly I find myself pining for those affordable lodgings of San Francisco…
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
It is amusing to watch all those tourists overpaying for an inaccurate sense of fabulosity. Just traipse through Union Square some day. All the tourists posturing as (the palest imitation of)supermodels is sad and somewhat painful to witness, but at least they pay out the nose for the cachet! To the guy from Edinburgh: “our” panhandlers would be highly offended if they knew you were equating them with something as proactive as the Olympics. A better analogy would be the “drug addict snake pit”. To the embittered skr831: Something tells me that most of the tourists who spent billions in S.F. would would be under the impression that Big Sur is a bouncer at one of S.F.’s many historic watering holes and not a viable alternative. There are lots of Big Sur’s out there, but one S.F., parking restrictions and all.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:03 am
This makes sense because the economy was in great shape the year prior to 2007. these numbers will be down for 2008 as tourists are really counting their pennies and making sure every dollar is spent wisely. Tourists in travel will be looking for deals now and really doing theri homework and research to make sure they get the best deal when they travel.
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