San Francisco, long a tier-one darling of the meetings and conventions scene, has been hit hard by the pandemic and departure of major businesses—especially in the tech sector—from its downtown.
New San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie joined relatively new San Francisco Travel Association President & CEO Anne Marie Presutti at Marriott’s The Exchange Association Masters convention May 28 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis to implore the audience to “Believe in San Francisco” because the destination is roaring back.
And if you don't believe them, you can take recent San Francisco convert Charles Barkley's word for it, it seems.
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“Listen, when we are at our best, there is no one that can beat this city,” Lurie told the audience during a panel discussion featuring Presutti and lead by San Francisco Marriott Marquis General Manager John Anderson, who is also the board of directors’ chair for San Francisco Travel Association. “We've had our struggles. The challenges are real. We are clear-eyed about that.”
Viewed as a pro-business, pro-hospitality industry mayor, Lurie told the audience of 350 top national association meeting planners that his administration has three priorities that will positively impact the city’s convention climate.
“One, public safety—nothing else matters if you can't keep your tourists, your convention-goers, your workers, safe,” he said. “We are working day and night, and making sure that we fully staff our police department, our sheriff's department, our 911 dispatch office.
“Second, the behavioral health crisis on our streets is untenable,” Lurie continued. “We have two people a day dying of overdose in San Francisco. That has to end. We have to get more people into treatment beds, into mental health beds, and we are working hard [to offer] 1,500 beds.
“And our third priority is making sure that this is a city once again open for business,” he concluded. “We are going to attract conventions back to San Francisco.”
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Lurie said the efforts are already contributing to positive results.
“We're winning conventions back at a real steady clip,” he said. “At this point, hotel bookings are up 50%. Moscone is up big year over year, and next year it's looking even better.
“I'm talking to people going to conventions,” Lurie added. “We set up a hospitality zone between Union Square [and Moscone] where we're [working] with SFPD, making sure that we have zones where people feel safe coming and going. Property crime is down 30%, violent crime is down 20% year over year…So, this city is on the rise.”
Presutti said candidate Lurie reached out to her immediately after her September appointment to lead San Francisco’s DMO, to congratulate her and assure her of his emphasis on bringing back the city’s once-formidable meetings and conventions swagger.
“I think it's pretty clear that we're in lockstep,” Presutti said. “We know what we need to do. He's doing his part, I'm doing mine, and we're coming together in moments like this and in other places so that we can actually bring the best of San Francisco to our customers. Our job is to create the conditions for you all to succeed, for our hotels, for our conventions, our business.”
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San Francisco’s New Brand Message
Lurie and Presutti also used the convention to announce a new brand campaign for San Francisco Travel Association: “Believe in San Francisco.”
“You're seeing that this city is on the rise and that there is a feeling of hope and optimism,” Lurie said. “More people feel like San Francisco is on the right track than the wrong track. A lot of people have counted this city out, and it's a bad bet. It's always been a bad bet to bet against San Francisco. We've had troubled times before, and we've always come out stronger.
A Charles Barkley Pivot?
Both Lurie and Presutti ended the roundtable discussion with some good-natured poking of NBA legend and broadcaster Charles Barkley, who has ruffled feathers by very publicly dissing San Francisco during broadcasts.
“We want to talk about one person in particular who's been extremely vocally negative about San Francisco, very public and on television, and that is Sir Charles Barkley,” Anderson said, setting up his roundtable guests.
“As we were approaching the NBA All-Star game, I got his phone number. I called. I left a message. I texted,” Lurie responded, adding that a mutual friend in the San Francisco recording industry introduced the two during a charity poker game during All-Star Weekend.
“The first person he introduced me to was Chuck,” Lurie said. “Chuck leans down and said he was ‘sorry I called you out. I was doing my diligence on you. Your city is great.’”
Lurie said Barkley’s opinions may have changed after attending the city’s iconic Glide Memorial Church to help serve meals to the needy in the Tenderloin neighborhood where it is located. Barkley donated $250,000 to the church afterwards.
“If you can turn Chuck around, you’re off to the races,” Lurie joked.
