San Francisco has faced its share of challenges in recent years, but the city is experiencing a significant renaissance that’s transforming its reputation on the global stage. With a new mayor driving unprecedented improvements in safety and urban vitality, a packed calendar featuring the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup, and a booming convention sector delivering over 700,000 group room nights annually, the city by the bay is firmly back on form. CMW’s Iain Stirling had the chance to catch up with the Anna Marie Presutti, CEO of San Francisco Travel, to discuss the city’s remarkable revitalisation, its position as the AI capital of the world, and why it remains one of the most compelling destinations for meetings and conventions worldwide.
Iain Stirling: There’s been a certain perception internationally about San Francisco in recent years – homelessness and urban challenges being highlighted in the media. It would be good to set the record straight about where the city actually is currently.
Anna Marie Presutti
Anna Marie Presutti: Let’s get the record straight, because that’s definitely not the case. You know, I see it all in my job, and I’m often thinking, “That’s not true.” That was a clip from 2021. I often tell people, rather than me being a talking head about my city and telling you how great it is, I’d rather just show you. Why don’t you just come here and see it for yourself?
We’ve partnered with United Airlines on a campaign where we can fly over our customers complimentary and show them the city and their direct route in. We’re proud of what we have. You walk it for yourself; you see for yourself what’s going on here. As a result of that campaign, which we’ve extended into this year, we’ve booked more meetings and conventions with people having boots on the ground, seeing and believing and realising, “Wow, I do believe in San Francisco. What I’m seeing in the media is not exactly truthful.”
IS: What’s driven this transformation?
AMP: We have a new mayor in San Francisco, Mayor Daniel Lurie, who is a born and raised San Franciscan, attached to the Levi family and the Levi brand. He’s very invested in the city, first and foremost as a citizen, and now as mayor. He has really been able to turn things around, and he’s not messing around whilst doing it.
During the pandemic, things got a little wonky for us – that’s no secret. But what has happened in literally one year to 18 months is remarkable. San Francisco is better than it was pre-pandemic. We have the best safety record of any US city from a [low] crime perspective
I quote our district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, who said there was a time when we had some crime, and it was frivolous crime. But she said crime is illegal once again in San Francisco. If you do something wrong, you will get caught and you will be prosecuted. I think we had a softer approach earlier, but now with her, the mayor, and the new chief of police, they’re all in lockstep with one another, and that has moved mountains for the city.
A fleet of historic ships looms in the background as one of San Francisco’s famous cable cars scales Hyde Street.
IS: How is the mayor engaging with the business events sector specifically?
AMP: We are so fortunate that he meets with every convention customer that’s coming into town for a site inspection. He meets with our customer advisory board when they’re here, sits down and talks to them about whatever issues they might be facing. He’s there for them.
We just had a couple of groups come through for final site inspections, and they went to City Hall because they’re running an event there. He was there to meet them and talk to them, asking, “Tell me a little bit about your convention.” He’s very engaging.
IS: San Francisco is set to host several significant sporting events this year. Can you walk us through those major events and what makes the city particularly well suited to host them?
AMP: In 2025, we hosted the NBA All-Star game and the Laver Cup. This year, we were in Pasadena for the Rose Parade – over 50 million people viewed that parade, and San Francisco showed up so beautifully. Then we have the Super Bowl, the NCAA Men’s Basketball quarter-finals, and then we roll into the FIFA World Cup.
San Francisco is incredibly well suited for these events because, first of all, it’s an incredibly walkable city. Once you’re here, you can walk everywhere you need to – the Convention Centre, sporting facilities like Chase Center and Oracle Park where the Warriors and Giants play. That’s all within walking distance or a quick train ride.
We just know how to do this. It’s in our DNA. We’ve hosted the Super Bowl before. It’s something the city embraces. The city’s on the rise again, and people want to come here. It’s such an international destination, and the airlift getting into San Francisco is second to none. It doesn’t matter where in the world you’re coming from, you can probably get here via a direct flight – yes, including direct flights to Europe.
IS: Looking at your convention calendar, what particular sectors or industries are you seeing significant growth in?
AMP: The tech industry, for sure. Stanford – this is the AI capital of the world, and it all starts here. People want to be where this innovative, groundbreaking technology began.
San Francisco is the only place where you can take the oldest form of transportation, which is the cable car, and right next to you, sharing the roadway, is the newest form of transportation – a driverless vehicle. There’s nowhere else in the world you’re going to experience that. It shows you can blend the new and the old and the charming, and it becomes a very nice fabric.
Union Square
IS: What are some of the biggest events you host?
AMP: We have Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference, RSA Conference, Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft Ignite, GDC Festival of Gaming – a lot of technology. But then there are also associations like the AGU Geophysical and psychiatric conventions. We still do a lot of medical conventions here as well. It’s a nice combination of association, technology, corporate, and medical.
IS: How do you leverage your strengths in technology and innovation to position yourself competitively in the global meetings sector?
AMP: We position ourselves as where it started first. This is where the innovation happens. The airlift getting here is very easy. The ride from the airport to the city is simple, whether you take an Uber or the BART train – it’s a short ride. Then you have some of the most beautiful, world-class hotels within walking distance to the convention centre.
It’s a meeting planner’s delight to be able to come to San Francisco. That package is really nice. Then there’s world-class dining. We have more Michelin-starred restaurants in San Francisco than any other city in the country. If you’re a foodie or into arts and culture, it’s a city that appeals to everyone.
IS: Tell us about the convention centre itself.
AMP: The centre is over a million square feet of contiguous space. It’s three buildings – two are attached, and there’s a third building, Moscone West, that can host a smaller convention. We can actually host multiple conventions at the same time. If you have a programme that might be just a West user, we can also put something in North and South. We have a lot of flexibility.
It’s LEED Platinum certified, which is terrific. People talk about sustainability and green initiatives in the convention space – just remember that started in San Francisco. We were the first to enter into that space. We’ve been doing this for 20 years now. It’s not so new for us. That’s refreshing to meeting planners because they know it’s a sure thing. When they come here, we have a plan, and they can tap right into it. They don’t have to create it themselves.
IS: What about your hotels? Are there new properties coming in?
AMP: Our hotel product here in San Francisco is renovated and new, but we also have iconic hotels that people recall and remember – the Fairmont Hotel, the Westin St Francis, the Palace Hotel. The historic Huntington Hotel will reopen on Nob Hill this spring after a major renovation. People remember these old-world beauties, and they still are. Then you’ve got very sophisticated hotels like the Hotel Nikko and the St Regis, and lots of boutique product. There’s a variety of whatever suits you.
Not everybody needs the Convention Centre. Some people just need a hotel with a great ballroom, and we’ve got a plethora of that. That’s a huge part of our business.
Fairmont San Francisco
IS: I imagine you’re quite an attractive incentive travel destination with all those iconic landmarks – the Golden Gate Bridge and so on.
AMP: We’re always going to attract that because of the diversity, the landscape, all the iconic things people want to see – the Painted Ladies, the crooked Lombard Street, the sea lions down at Pier 39. Then, not to mention, you go over the bridge and you’re in wine country. A lot of folks want to take Highway 1 down the coast and see the beautiful coastline of California.
That’s not a market we struggle with too much because we can tick so many boxes in that space.
IS: Can you share any success stories about the impact and legacy events have had on your local economy?
AMP: The local economy and local business people – whether small business, big business, restaurateurs, retail – they know that when a convention comes into town, they’re going to be positively impacted. Our community has absolutely embraced the convention market.
The other thing I can demonstrate to meeting planners when they’re considering San Francisco is that when you bring an event or conference here, your attendance is going to go up. It’s not just good for the city from an economic impact perspective, it’s also good for the organisation coming here because their attendance goes up, which means their registration fees go up.
When we have events like Dreamforce and RSA Conference coming through, they want to continue to come back here because they know if they leave, their numbers will go down. That’s not good for them or their business. We’ve been able to keep some of those large conferences right here because they’re seeing their attendance records going up year after year.
We have over 38 citywide events this year. We’ll do over 700,000 group room nights in the convention space.
IS: From a tech perspective, the fact that you have an abundance of tech companies means you can pull expertise from them, adding value to an event.
AMP: That’s right. A lot of people in that tech space want to go down and see the Google campus, the Meta campus. They want to actually look and touch it. It’s right here, so they can absolutely do those side trips. Then stay a little bit longer and enjoy some of the sights and sounds.
IS: California’s got a lot to offer. I imagine you’ve got quite a lot of competition around you.
AMP: Just in the state alone, we’ve got good competition – San Diego, Anaheim, Los Angeles, and beach communities like San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica. As a state goes, we do very well. As a city, I think we lead in that space because we’re walkable, we’re large, we can do it, and we are the tech centre. In the state, there’s certainly something for everyone, but the city ends up being the anchor for so much of what’s happening.
San Francisco’s Pier 39 in Fisherman’s Wharf
IS: What do you think are the biggest challenges and opportunities you’re facing this year?
AMP: The challenges are unfortunately things I can’t control – what’s happening in the geopolitical space, what the news media is picking up about the United States. Fortunately, people somehow separate California from the United States, and they definitely separate San Francisco from everything. We do behave very independently, and I think folks who have been here before certainly recognise that. We are so inclusive and welcoming, and that has never changed.
As far as opportunities go, continuing to grow the convention space is certainly one. It’s getting harder because it’s so packed with 38 events – we only have 12 months. But to continue to build on the success of that convention market, that’s absolutely an opportunity for us.
IS: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your history within the industry.
AMP: I was on the board of directors for San Francisco Travel, turning on and off. I was chairman of the board in 2016 when we had Super Bowl 50, ironically, and then became chairman again in 2024. The person in this job didn’t stay, and as chairman of the board, I stepped in to fill the role in an interim capacity. It ended up becoming permanent, which is why I’m here. I’ve been in this job for about 18 months now.
Prior to that, I worked on the hotel side. I was vice president for Nikko Hotels International and worked out of the Hotel Nikko here in San Francisco. I was general manager there for over 20 years. I was with Kimpton Hotels prior to that, right here in San Francisco as a regional director. I definitely come from the industry side – the operational side – and now being on the DMO side, it’s been a really nice fit and marriage.
Aerial photo of early morning sunrise looking towards downtown San Francisco with Coit Tower, the international landmark dedicated to firefighters.
IS: Do you find it’s quite a different challenge compared to working in a hotel?
AMP: It is different because it’s so marketing-forward, and in the hotel, it’s so operations-forward. But it’s the same in many ways because I’m still working for the hotel industry, for the tourism industry, which I’d always worked in – just working it from a different angle.
IS: Looking beyond 2026, what’s your vision for San Francisco’s position in the global events landscape?
AMP: My first hope is that I don’t have to start an interview dispelling bad information about the state of the city. If by the time my tenure is done here and I start an interview, and people say to me, “I hear the city is fantastic,” that would be a great goal.
As far as new developments, you’ll see another World Cup of sorts come through the city. We’re working on the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. And don’t forget, the Olympics are being held in 2028 down in Los Angeles. A lot of those teams are starting in San Francisco. They’ll be here for a month or two, training and getting acclimated before they head down south. We’ll be engaged with the Olympics in our own way.
We’re constantly bidding on big events. We really want the Laver Cup to come back. We’re interested in making sure we land another Super Bowl in the next 10 years. You know how this business works – it’s never ending. You’re always looking for the next thing.
You’ll see San Francisco showing up in places that continue to surprise and delight people. You’ll think, “Oh my God, I didn’t think San Francisco would have been here.” I’d say keep your eyes peeled, because it’ll be fun where you see us and where you least expect to see it.
IS: The city sounds like it’s in a good place, and events are very much an important part of that.
AMP: You know, maybe when you’re here for IMEX America, let’s get you out to San Francisco so you can explore the city, understand everything I’m talking about, and see it for yourself. We do a lot of things at SF Travel where we’re putting the city in places that surprise and delight people. We’ll be showing up in places that are aligned with positivity and bringing joy to people. Because that’s exactly what San Francisco does. When people come here, they say, “Oh my God – the food culture, the diversity, just the cityscape, the charm of it all.” You get all of that when you come here.
Anna Marie Presutti is CEO of San Francisco Travel. For more information about hosting events in San Francisco, visit www.sftravel.com
