25 million = $10 billion, don't doubt it as it's beautiful overall with lots of

[theking]

...things to do  :

Despite dirty streets, San Francisco tourism at record high



San Francisco tourism levels hit a new record high in 2018 for the ninth straight year, with the number of visitors reaching 25.8 million and annual spending at $10 billion.

Visitors were up 1.2 percent compared to 2017, and spending was up 2.3 percent from the previous year, according data released Thursday by San Francisco Travel, the city’s tourism bureau. Tourism supported 82,538 local jobs, up 1 percent from the previous year.

Average hotel occupancy was 82.2 percent in 2018, down 1.4 percent, a drop attributed to the partial closure of Moscone Center during a $551 million expansion, which was completed in January. The average daily hotel room rate was $264.53, up 6.2 percent.

“While visitor growth last year was modest, we saw a larger increase in visitor spending. We are optimistic for the rest of 2019 and currently have more room nights on the books than ever before, thanks to the recently expanded Moscone Center,” said Joe D’Alessandro, CEO of San Francisco Travel, in a statement.

San Francisco Travel is expecting 26.5 million visitors this year, an increase of 2.5 percent. Spending is expected to rise to $10.3 billion this year, up 3.4 percent.

“San Francisco is an incredible city that continues to draw people from all over to visit and enjoy the city we all know and love. These visitors explore our neighborhoods, shop at our small businesses, enjoy our restaurants, and help support our local economy,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “I am committed to working every day to make our city a better place for everyone, whether they live here or are visiting from the other side of the world.”

The tourism industry generated $771 million in taxes and fees for the city in 2018, up 8 percent from the previous year.

International visitor spending accounted for $4.9 billion of total spending. The most international tourists came from Mexico, China, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. The fastest-growing international markets were Brazil, France, India and Taiwan.

D’Alessandro said international spending was affected by a stronger U.S. dollar, which raised the cost of visits, negative perceptions caused by the Trump administration and rising interest rates.

San Francisco’s street problems — with needles and feces and open-air drug use — have also put off some visitors.

San Francisco International Airport had a record-high 57.8 million passengers in 2018, up 3.1 percent from the previous year.

In 2019, hotel occupancy is expected to rise 1.2 percent to 83.2 percent and the average daily room rate is expected to increase 4.6 percent to $276.66.