Tourism continues to recover in San Francisco, which is good news for local businesses, but it will still be several years before it returns to pre-pandemic levels.
Don McFarland has been working in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf since he was 15 years old, in a family-owned business that has been in business since 1927.
“Frank Sabella and Lou La Torre. They were the founding partners and my grandfather’s cousins,” McFarland said.
Sabella and La Torre weathered the COVID-19 restrictions but have been slow to recover since the pandemic hit. He is the owner, proprietor, bartender and whatever role is needed.
“They’ll be proud, but they’ll also be telling us to take our hands out of our pockets and make more sales,” McFarland said.
The 53-year-old said his restaurants are finally seeing a noticeable increase in sales for the first time in 18 months.
“We had a very strong June and July so far looks set to be on pace to outperform last year,” McFarland said.
Tourism officials are touting the recovery San Francisco has recently experienced and the outlook for spending levels over the next few years as promising.
The San Francisco Travel Association projects tourist spending this year will be about $9.45 billion, up 7.4% from 2023, but tourism numbers won’t reach 2019’s level of 26 million until 2026.
“We’re seeing more foreigners coming from other countries, which is a good sign, it means they’re not afraid to come here,” McFarland said.
Anna Marie Presutti is interim president and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association.
“Convention business is down significantly,” Presutti said.
There are 25 Moscone conventions confirmed for this year, half the number of events compared to 2019, and fewer than half the number of hotel rooms booked in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Travel Association.
“Right now, we’re at 50 to 60 percent occupancy and rates are way down, so there’s less money going through the city and into the general fund,” Presutti said.
Economists also said the overall outlook for U.S. tourism is not as bright as it used to be, with a strong dollar encouraging more Americans to travel abroad.
According to a Euromonitor International survey, the U.S. is lagging behind global competitors, ranking second out of 18 countries, with the U.K. and France coming in higher and China’s travel industry coming in last.
Los Angeles-based tour guide Paulo Perla said he is making less money than he did last year.
“We’ve seen a big drop in tourists from Europe,” Perla said.
Olaf Schubert and his family are visiting San Francisco from Germany and believe it is safer to travel here than many other cities and countries.
“This is my second time here. It’s a lovely town,” Schubert said.
The atmosphere has vendors like McFarland cautiously optimistic about the summer and beyond.
“It’s good to see small businesses feeling legitimate and making a profit again,” McFarland said.
It’s a reason to smile.
But for optimists like Don McFarland, it’s not just profit that has allowed family-run restaurants to thrive for nearly a century — it’s grit, kindness and loyalty that set the standard, just as their forefathers dreamed.
The San Francisco Travel Association said the decline in meetings and conventions is a direct result of the company’s failure to sell the Moscone Center for two years during the pandemic.
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Kenny Choi
