San Francisco has hired a tourism official to encourage travelers to visit the ‘the city by the bay’ as it battles rampant crime, homeless and drugs crisis.
Josh Beck will be the new president and CEO of The San Francisco Travel Association, and the person that the city’s tourism bureau and marketing organization is looking at in hopes of bringing SanFran back to the bustling vacation hub it once was.
Beck, who is currently head of Destination Toronto, will begin his new post on October 30, replacing former head Joe D’Alessandro, who headed the travel organization for nearly two decades and who is set to retire in December.
The city has been hit hard over the last few years by a homeless crisis, rampant drug use and public safety concerns. In August, the city reported nearly 1,670 car break-ins, contributing to the nearly 10,000 thefts from vehicles recorded in the city this year.
During the Labor Day holiday, multiple groups of tourists fell victim to car break-ins that that saw all their personal belongings and passports stolen, which occurred in broad daylight and within minutes of each other at a San Francisco Beach.
Despite these, Beck claims the biggest challenge is the ‘ongoing narrative about San Francisco as a monolithic experience, when it’s clearly not,’ the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Pictured: Josh Beck will be the new president and CEO of The San Francisco Travel Association in October. His role will be to help vacationers back to the ‘city of the bay’
On their second day in San Francisco, a group of tourists from Malta contemplated cutting their trip short and returning to Europe after the brazen smash and grab that occurred in broad daylight within a mere 10-minute window
A brazen thief is caught on camera breaking into a white Lexus that was parked on a city street in San Francisco. The attack occurred in broad daylight
Beck claimed the media reports about whether San Francisco is safe is ‘not 100 percent accurate,’ as per the news outlet.
The city has a massive tourism and hospitality industry that supports more than 53,000 jobs.
While some vacationers have been returning, the flow of tourism has been nothing close to what they city of Frisco saw in 2019 at its peak, and experts claim will take a few years to get back to that level.
The marketing guru pointed out that other urban cities across the country are struggling and faced with similar issues to San Francisco.
The San Francisco Travel Association has an annual budget of $33 million. The agency is currently running their most ambitious tourist campaign yet, which costs $6 million.
A recent Gallup poll found that nearly half of Americans believe San Francisco is dangerous, despite the fact that the city has a lower violent crime rate than many major cities, the news outlet reported.
According to the poll, 48 percent of Americans view San Francisco as unsafe. That number is up a staggering 30% compared to 2006.
The survey also revealed the city’s political divide: 74 percent of Democrats believe the city is safe in comparison to their Republican counterparts who give it a 32 percent rating.
The city faces a surge in homelessness and open-air drug use
The open-air drug markets and the chronic drug abuse has taken over part of the once bustling city
Tourists visiting the Golden Gate bridge
Though violent crime in San Francisco is down, the survey finding reflect the city’s homelessness, chronic drug abuse, property crime and as major issues.
Beck said it was too early to say if there will be any major strategy shifts at the travel organization, but he remains hopeful, calling San Francisco as ‘one of the marquee cities of the world for US and international travelers.’
In a statement he shared how thrilled he was to be joining the organization.
He said, in part: ‘A strong tourism industry is vital to the city’s economy, local businesses and neighborhoods, and I am passionately committed to helping steward San Francisco’s ongoing tourism recovery.’
