The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (SFCVB) 98th Annual Luncheon at Moscone Center celebrated new opportunities for the visitor industry in San Francisco. The luncheon, themed “Opening Doors,” attracted over 1,000 attendees who heard from industry leaders on the successes of the past year and the challenges that lie ahead.

Herb Myers, outgoing chair and regional business banking president of Wells Fargo, and Pat Gallagher, incoming chair and president of San Francisco Giants Enterprises, gave the attendees an overview of the variety of the SFCVB ‘s accomplishments over the past year. These include:

• Applying the “Only in San Francisco” brand strategy to all marketing ventures;
•  Promoting San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods by launching a “Neighborhoods” section of the onlyinsanfrancisco.com Web site;
• Promoting the areas beyond San Francisco’s city limits with a new “Beyond The Bridge” section of onlyinsanfrancisco.com;
• Launching a new food and wine campaign and microsite, “TasteSF,” and supporting local restaurants with two Dine About Town San Francisco promotions in 2008 (Jan. 15 – 31 and June 1 – 15);

Collaborating with San Francisco’s major museums to launch “ArtSF,” a marketing campaign created to promote the opening of the new Contemporary Jewish Museum and four blockbuster art exhibits taking place this summer at SFMOMA, the de Young, the Legion of Honor, and the Asian Art Museum.

Myers and Gallagher also outlined the plans for marketing San Francisco and the region over the next year. These include:

• Continuing to partner with SFO to promote travel to San Francisco through offices in 12 cities worldwide;
• Continuing to research funding options for renovating and expanding Moscone Center in order to remain a competitive destination;
• Positioning San Francisco as a leading green destination, focusing on eco-friendly venues such as Moscone Center and California Academy of Sciences;
• Marketing San Francisco as an LGBT travel and wedding destination.

SFCVB President and CEO Joe D’Alessandro announced that the number of visitors to San Francisco in 2007 was 16.1 million, up 2.4 percent over 2006. In 2007, visitors spent $8.2 billion, an increase of 6.2 percent over the previous year and an all-time high. The San Francisco visitor industry supported 72,360 jobs and had an annual payroll of $1.95 billion based on research conducted by the SFCVB Foundation and Destination Analysts.

The 2008 Silver Cable Car Award, presented annually to an individual or organization making a significant contribution to San Francisco’s visitor industry, was presented to San Francisco hotel door staff. As the face of the hospitality industry, hotel door staffs are the first to interact with guests when they arrive and the last to wave goodbye, strongly influencing visitors’ perceptions of San Francisco.

The SFCVB has presented the Silver Cable Car award annually since 1965 to recognize an organization or individual that has made a significant contribution to the success of San Francisco’s hospitality industry or enhanced the City’s reputation and attraction as a visitor destination. Its recipients have included Cyril Magnin, Herb Caen, former Mayor — now U.S. Senator — Dianne Feinstein, Willie Mays, the San Francisco 49ers, the Golden Gate Bridge, VISA, USA; and more recently, Allesandro Baccari, former executive director of the Fisherman’s Wharf Merchants Association, Chuck Huggins of See’s Candies and Bob Begley, former executive director of the Hotel Council of San Francisco.