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It seems nobody left their heart in San Francisco lately.
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“The City by the Bay” has launched a $6-million US tourism campaign to lure tourists and business travellers back to San Fran, which has been suffering from homelessness, drug addiction and crime, reported the Daily Mail.
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The city welcomed 26.2 million visitors in 2019, according to the SF Travel Association, and only hit 21.9 million in 2022.
However, a number of major conferences and events in 2022 returned, leading to a $7.4 billion US in spending, which was more than twice the 2021 figure.
However, the departure of a number of retailers in the downtown core — Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Saks Off 5th, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Office Depot — due to rampant and unprosecuted theft has led to a tarnished image.
According to one analysis, San Francisco is suffering from the slowest downtown recovery of any of the 62 largest cities in the U.S. and Canada post-pandemic.