The Perils of a Tourist Economy

As San Francisco suffers a major income detriment due to COVID-19, the dangers of being a tourist economy have become apparent. A report from SFGate.

You could feel the tension in the room when Joe D'Alessandro, the head of the San Francisco Travel Association, the city's travel and tourism organization, opened its annual Annual Visitor & Lodging Forecast Forum on Wednesday morning.

But this year, that meeting was starkly different. There was no crowd, no schmoozing or handshaking. There wasn't even a room. Instead, it was a virtual event. And the news was as stark as the setting.

"For 11 straight years, we've gathered here to report on record numbers. But not this year. The evolving coronavirus situation makes 2020 a difficult year to project. COVID-19 has affected every sector across the globe, and the hospitality industry is among the hardest hit. Our research suggests that recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels could take until 2025. We've never experienced anything that comes close to this," said D'Alessandro.

“In 2019, more than 26.2 million people visited San Francisco, spending nearly $10 billion. More than 86,111 jobs were supported by tourism in San Francisco. In 2020 and beyond, those numbers could be cut by at least half, if not more.”