Oct 5, 2022 - Business

Dreamforce boosted San Francisco tourism

Megan Rose Dickey

People walking in the streets of SF in front of banner that says "Dreamforce" — Attendees outside the 2022 Dreamforce conference in SF. Photo: Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Dreamforce, Salesforce's takeover of downtown San Francisco, did its part in bringing tourists to the city.

Driving the news: Hotel occupancy in downtown San Francisco was 95.1% for the first two days of the tech conference, according to a report from data analytics firm STR.

That same time period in 2019 saw a 96.6% hotel occupancy.

Why it matters: San Francisco remains in pandemic-recovery mode, and the city's downtown area has been the slowest to rebound in the country, per data through May.

By the numbers: Dreamforce brought 40,000 attendees to downtown SF, compared to 170,000 in 2019.

SF is expected to host 21.5 million visitors this year, up from 17 million last year, per the San Francisco Travel Association.
Tourists are projected to spend $6.7 billion — an 89.3% increase from 2021, but a 30.2% decrease from 2019.

What they're saying: The hotel occupancy data exceeded expectations for Dreamforce, SF Travel president Joe D'Alessandro told the SF Business Times.

"It showed that the city can host a major conference like this and that we're back and ready to do it again," he said.

What's next: San Francisco's Moscone Center will hold TechCrunch Disrupt this month, with a projected 10,000 attendees.

Add Axios on Google

Dreamforce boosted San Francisco tourism

More San Francisco stories