Thursday's Visitor Centers

The Still Shuttered San Francisco Visitor Information Center

The visitor center.

The ubiquitous first stop on most traveler’s To-Do list. It's the kind of place you decry as cheesy or quaint; a throwback to a more innocent time before the internet gave everyone their own Oracle of Delphi. Until that is, you realize you are in a place for the first time and don't know where to eat or what to do. Then the helpful person behind the desk isn't as much an anachronism as you thought.

But the little visitor centers that could, have faced stiff winds in the post -Covid/AI world. Who needs to ask questions to a live human being in the place you want to visit when you can ask Siri? As international tourism has not reached its 2019 apex, means fewer tourists are traveling and spending money in local hotels or tourist attractions as they had pre-pandemic.

In big cities, those visitor centers are usually funded by hospitality taxes on hotels, restaurants and other related industries catering to visitors. But as that tax base has been compromised, even halved in some places, tourist information offices have had their hours and staff reduced, or just plain shut down. In smaller towns, they are usually attached to a local chamber of commerce.

And don't be surprised if that visitor center is really a just local chamber of commerce office with a brochure rack and a little old lady volunteering behind the counter.

If you are looking for a hotel or bed & breakfast, they may not only know lodging you are interested in, but also the owner. The downside, however, is that their main function is promoting and supporting local businesses, not necessarily local tourism.

For example, I was interested in visiting the giant redwood trees in the far northern part of California, near Eureka.  I contacted a local visitor center, attached to their chamber of commerce. 

The guy answering the phone informed me that he didn't have too much knowledge about the local lodging scene, but was going to have someone else in the office email me some options.  A week later I followed up and got the same guy, who said he was working on it.

Despite the fact the town is only about 9,000 people and indicated to him in no uncertain terms, that I want to spend money in his town's hotels and restaurants, he never called back.

Conversely, once I found my cabin and made my way there, I visited the local tourist information office.  Not surprisingly, it was also attached to the town's chamber of commerce of course. 

And as I have encountered in previous visitor information offices, it was staffed by a nice little old lady who volunteered a few days a week.  She was able to give me insider information on lodging, dining, and hiking which only a local would know.

Tourism numbers are not at the level they were pre-pandemic, but they have improved enough for many popular destinations like New York City and Los Angeles to reopen their tourist information centers. 

But not San Francisco?

Condé Nast lists San Francisco as its fifth most popular destination in the United States in 2025, but it has not reopened its tourist information office.  Yet Boston (ranked number 10) and Chicago (ranked number eight) have.  So why is that?

If you go to www.SFTravel.com, San Francisco's Convention and Visitor Bureau website, you will find many colorful links to all the wonders this city has to offer.  This is all easily accessible and user-friendly. 

But what if you have questions, like how to pay for the cable car or what's the difference between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park? A question, by the way, you would be surprised at how many times I've been asked as a hotel concierge.

Most people will scroll down to the bottom of the website to find the Contact tab, or basic contact information, but not on this website.  Scroll to the bottom of the SFTravel page and you will find a mailing address....  And that's it.   

My first thought is that they are going retro, embracing 19th century communication technology, and are only accepting posted written correspondence.  But in the city that brought the world AI, the iPod, and even Television, it seems decidedly low-tech to be only able to write a letter.

To recap, The sole website for all visitors coming to San Francisco has no phone number,  no email, no Contact tab, or even a physical location to walk into for information and recommendations.  For all of the proselytizing our mayor does over his desire to see a 2019 level of tourism return to San Francisco, the website kind of looks like we don't really want any visitors at all.

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