San Francisco is betting on an unusual feature to attract more tourists with a surprising advertising campaign.
The crime-ridden city has been hit by a homeless crisis that has caused businesses to flee and residents to relocate.
In an effort to win back visitors, San Francisco is highlighting an unusual feature: its cold climate.
As large areas of the United States are hit by a dangerous, record-breaking heat wave, the coastal city is announcing its gloomy weather and lower temperatures.
Pier 39’s marketers have placed billboards in hot inland cities promising sweaty passersby that “it’s cooler on the bay.”
In an effort to win back visitors, San Francisco is highlighting an unusual feature: its cold climate.
As a dome of heat settles over the Northeast, cooking more than 170 million Americans with temperatures above 90 degrees, San Francisco bills itself as a cool, safe harbor.
The city is famous for its fog, generated by the cold sea air and the warmer surface, which keeps temperatures low.
Randall Scott, who runs Fisherman’s Wharf in the city, told the Wall Street Journal that he often brags to his family about the city’s cooler weather.
He said, ‘They’ll say, ‘God, it’s miserable here,’ and I’ll say, ‘It’s 58 degrees here,’ and they’ll say, ‘Oh, you stink!’
Unsuspecting visitors are often surprised by the cold when they arrive, expecting it to be a hot coastal town.
Cruise operator Chris Vardijan told the Journal: ‘EEveryone thinks it’s going to be hot and comes in t-shirts and shorts.
Visitors Jamie and Kelli Burmeister of Nebraska told the Journal they learned the hard way when they took a tour of Alcatraz on a day when temperatures never rose above 58 degrees in June.
‘The wind was the coldest part, we just layered what we had. Back in Omaha, I’m in shorts from May to September.’
The weather is an unexpected blessing for the ailing city that has struggled with rising crime and homelessness rates since the pandemic.
However, tourism is increasing and visitor numbers are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.
The crime-ridden city has been hit by a homelessness crisis that has caused businesses to flee and residents to be displaced.
The city is famous for its fog, generated by the cold sea air and the warmer surface, which keeps temperatures low.
There were 26 million visitors in 2019, falling to 10 million in 2020 and now expected to reach 24 million this year, according to the San Francisco Travel Association.
Hotels are also taking advantage of the cooler weather and promising guests they can seek respite from the sweltering heat elsewhere.
San Francisco Hotel Council President Alex Bastian posted an American map of the scorching heat from coast to coast on Facebook.
He wrote: ‘If you’re looking to escape the scorching heat, come visit us in San Francisco! We have some of the best hotels in the world and free air conditioning.’
Hotel Zelos launched a ‘Beat the Heat in San Francisco’ campaign in 2023, and this year Hotel Castro is reportedly planning to run a Chill in The Castro promotion, after seeing ‘a notable increase’ in guests specifically fleeing the intense heat.
Hospitality workers hope the campaigns will help increase visitor numbers after the city has fallen into a vicious cycle in recent years.
Earlier this month, the bleak reality of San Francisco’s emptied downtown was laid bare with images showing every store on an entire commercial block closed and empty.
Lloyd Chapman of the American Small Business League visited the once-thriving Union Square area, in the heart of its business district.
This prime real estate was once home to outlets such as Uniqlo, H&M, Rasputin Records and Lush, but they have all disappeared in a city center plagued by crime, drugs and homelessness.