The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (SFCVB) has just completed their 2005-2006 fiscal year in which they booked a record-breaking 1,035 convention groups and meetings, representing a total of…
The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (SFCVB) has just completed their 2005-2006 fiscal year in which they booked a record-breaking 1,035 convention groups and meetings, representing a total of 2,149,676 hotel room nights over the next 21 years.
The citywide economic impact of these bookings is estimated at $1.7 billion. A total of 2,172 groups, representing a potential 5,680,212 room nights, were added during the fiscal year on a tentative basis through 2030.
San Francisco has the distinction of being a very `balanced` destination for both convention business as well as leisure travelers, said Joe D`Alessandro, president and CEO of the SFCVB. Facing tough competition for these visitor dollars will always be a challenge, he cautioned, and we have to continue to drive our sales and marketing strategy and work even closer with the local hospitality community.
D`Alessandro also reported the following Bureau achievements for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2006:
- Web site bookings were up 197 percent.
- More than 286,200 individual visitors received assistance with their travel plans on-site at the Bureau`s Visitor Information Center located at Powell and Market Streets on the lower level of Hallidie Plaza.
- More than 1,314 travel trade professionals were hosted on familiarization visits. More than 583 leads for services for tour groups were distributed to SFCVB members.
- More than 2,200 journalists were assisted with their coverage of San Francisco and its visitor industry.
The number of visitors to San Francisco in the calendar year 2005 was 15.7 million, up 4.1 percent from 2004. Visitors spent $7.37 billion dollars, an increase of 9.5 percent over the previous year. Tourism is San Francisco`s largest revenue-generating industry.
Approximately 4.5 million people stayed in San Francisco hotels in 2005. Hotel guests accounted for 73 percent of dollars spent locally by out-of-town visitors, although only 38 percent of San Francisco visitors actually stay in hotels. The balance stay with friends and relatives, stay outside the City limits or come into the City only for the day.
For January-May, 2006 occupancy in San Francisco hotels was up 2.6 percent for an average of 72.6 percent and the average daily room rate (ADR) at $165.84 was up 9.1 percent according to PKF Consulting, a worldwide hotel analysis firm.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
